Twisted
by Fiore-Silver45-24
Summary: This is the story of a hatter, a genius, a little girl, a cat, a queen, a monster, death, destruction, shrinking, Madness, rivals, a dangerous weapon, uncontrollable creatures, several bad words, and a vanilla cupcake.
1. Chapter 1: Hello, There

1. Hello, There

_This is the story of a Hatter_

_Unlike the one so well-known_

_Tea time to her doesn't matter_

_And she's not quite fully grown_

The girl skipped from tree to tree, perfectly content to chase her prey through the woods. She had been on the hunt for hours, each monster easier to slay than the last. She held her blade balanced, a smile spreading across her face. The quarry was slowing. A lone cyberus. Nasty little creature. She scampered across a thick bough directly above the cyberus, feet lighter than a hummingbird's wings. The tree didn't even shake with her weight. With a skip, a dash across a limb, and a final leap, the girl landed squarely on the beast's back. She swung her blade, effectively detaching a head from a neck. The cyberus's head managed a slight yelp before it was so abruptly cut off and landed with a heavy thud on the marshy ground. There was a nanosecond of stunned silence. Then the middle head turned to grab the girl's sword between its metal teeth, yanking upward. The girl, still holding on, was whipped into the air. The creature let go, thinking to fling the girl against a tree. Instead, up she went, laughing, flipping twice in the air before slicing off yet another head on her descent.

She stood before the cyberus, or what remained of it, barely half its height. The last head, the left one, growled, red eyes sparking. The girl grinned maliciously, growling as well, much like a mad dog. The cyberus made the first move, attempting a head-on attack. Its opponent somersaulted to the left, landing in a crouched position. The cyberus instead charged into a large tree. It recovered quickly, shaking its head. The girl twirled her sword in one hand like a baton, holding a hand over her mouth in a yawn. As the cyberus crouched and walked in a slow circle around her, the girl watched with neon green eyes, smile slowly vanishing. As the beast launched, the stranger's eyes completely changed colors, switching in a half-second from inhumanly-bright green to hellish orange, complete with dark circles around them. Scowling, she ducked under the monster, blade sinking through its metal exoskeleton. She didn't even look up as she twisted the sword and flung the heavy beast off of her. Her eyes cooled to their normal neon color. She flashed the dead animal a smile, wagging a finger at it.

"Naughty little doggie." The girl sheathed her weapon and skipped into the underbrush.

She made an odd-looking individual, walking along her merry way. There were her eyes, of course, but there was also her bright purple hair held in place by two frayed pigtails. Her outfit was custom. No long sleeves or pant legs to slow her down. Rather, a puffy, grass green dress that stopped just above her knees. A tight white top with short sleeves, complete with a black and gold waistcoat, perfectly matched her knee-high white socks and her shiny black shoes, with only a slight heel to them. And of course, there was the hat. She would give an arm for it. It was hers, that dark velvet hat top hat with a black ribbon around it, a purple peacock feather tucked into the ribbon. All hers.

These woods seemed slightly more... foreboding than the girl remembered. They were darker, deader. It was silent, but for her own footsteps. And the loud commotion to her right, of course. The girl reacted quickly, leaping behind a tree and peering around the trunk. She spied a boy. Tall...ish. Taller than her, at any rate. Brown hair, a green coat, or something like it, and odd blue trousers. The girl had never come across such a strange outfit. It was nothing like the clothing worn where she came from. The boy was maybe a year or two older than her, and jumping around and around yet another cyberus, fiddling with a watch of some sort, while, at the same time, blasting at it with some sort of gun. Multi-tasking was not this individual's forte. The girl tsked.

"That's no Vorpal Blade, dear," she said, stepping out from behind the tree. The boy looked back, and the girl winced. Mistake. The cyberus knocked him to the side. Before the boy had landed, the girl had her sword out, gripped tightly in both hands, and was charging the animal, who had still barely registered her existence. She lopped off its front legs before it could even fully turn to look at her. With all three heads in the mud, the creature was disposed of with a quick _snick!_ _snick!_ _snack!_ The girl adjusted her hat, which had become slightly off balance in the scuffle. She angled her head towards the boy, who was standing up now. He seemed alright. Bruised, no doubt, but perfectly fine.

"Eh... thanks...?" he said, uncertain. The girl gave him a grin. He seemed put off by it.

"Oh, 'twas no problem. I'm Olivia," she introduced herself. She frowned suddenly, pulling the brim of her hat down, "But if ye call me that, Ah'll have to correctcha like Ah did to the wee beastie," Olivia said, voice getting slightly rougher, changing dramatically from what could be considered British to Scottish, pointing to cyberus with her sword.

"So...?" It was a question. A hesitant one at that. The boy wasn't entirely sure what to make of the odd-sounding girl before him, or her identity issue. Or her purple hair.

"Ah've only e'er heard another name for me. The Mad 'Atter." The boy snorted. A few cards short of a deck, this one. Olivia looked up, eyes darkening. She marched off.

"If we e'er meet again, be sure to call me Maddie. Ya owe me tha' much, ya baby," she snapped over her shoulder. She froze for a beat, and then turned on her heel, facing the boy again. She smiled.

"Look at that. Me, calling _you _a baby. Though it isn't undeserved," she giggled maniacally. Her voice was back to normal, if a bit...unnerving. Giving a little wave, she skipped into the woods. The boy hesitated until he was sure he would lose her if he didn't move quickly. He scrambled after her. She was surprisingly adept at winding through the tangled bushes and trees. He couldn't see her face, and she always seemed to be two steps ahead of him, silent as the grave, ignoring him completely, despite his somewhat clumsy movements and loud crunches from the bracken.

"Hey, Oliv-" he began, forgetting the girl's warning. Maddie wheeled on him, sword at his throat.

"Ain't me name, laddie," she said, frowning, voice changed again. The boy nodded, and Maddie removed her sword. The boy tried again.

"I'm-"

"Ben," Maddie interrupted, voice light and airy again.

"Uh... yeah. How'd you-"

"You look like a Ben, you know?" Ben ran a hand through his hair. Maddie stuck out her hand.

"Hattie." Ben looked at her, confusion evident in his features.

"You just said your name was-"

"Maddie? I was upset, Ben. Mad, Maddie. Happy, Hattie. Understand?" Ben blinked several times before shaking his head, as if to clear it.

"Right. Listen, uh, Hattie? That thing back there-"

"The cyberus," Hattie said, turning and walking away from him.

"Yeah. Listen, this is a bad... uh... spot. There are always more of them stalking around here. You shouldn't be hanging around alone." Hattie jumped and twisted in midair, so that she was walking backwards.

"I know that, Ben. What did you think I was doing around here? Having a tea party?" Hattie giggled again, "That's not till two, silly." Ben persisted, scrambling after her. He chose to ignore her ridiculous statement.

"Seriously. This is an Infected Zone. And..." he thought of something, "...How'd you get in here? Are you an operative?" Hattie continued walking backwards, seemingly with no effort whatsoever.

"An operative? That implies that there is someone in charge. No one's ever told me what to do, Ben. I made sure of it. By moving out here. Oh, I was quite happy where I came from, but..." Hattie's eyes darkened to burnt orange and dark circles appeared under her them, "But then, the bluddy beasties showed up. It made me upset tha' there were so many of tha damned creatures in me area. They were messin' with tha nat'ral order, ya know. Terrible things, Ben. Terrible. An' no one did a damned thing abou' it. So, Ah took matters into me own hands." Hattie eyed her sword lovingly, face brightening, voice changing with each word, "As you can tell, Ben, I've been a little... off-center... because of it." Here Hattie's eyes widened and an insane grin spread across her face. She laughed crazily. Then she stopped suddenly.

"Am I scaring you, Ben? I'm terribly sorry. I don't handle violence particularly well. I fear I enjoy it just a tad too much." Hattie faced forward, walking normally. She was quiet once again. Ben shivered in spite of himself.

"Hattie... I think you should come with me. Even if you come just to get out of the Infected Zone. You could become an operative if you wanted." Ben silently wondered whether he wanted her to agree or decline. Hattie paused and cocked her head to the side.

"Operative... yes. Talking to oneself can be such a bore. I suppose..." She placed a finger to her chin, eyes staring up and to the left, thinking. She wheeled on him.

"Very well, I accept." She held a hand to the side of her mouth, as if to whisper something, "I just hope everyone there is right in the head. No need for crazies, right, Ben?" Ben sighed and nodded. Somehow, he knew he was going to regret ever speaking to this nut.

The trip alone was psychotic. Ben could barely keep up with Hattie/Maddie's personality changes. And she kept shifting her eyes. Right. Left. Right. Left. Up. Left. Down. Right. Etcetera. Ben had to lead the way, as Hattie was unfamiliar with the area they were now traveling in. Over time, Ben figured out the whole "Hattie/Maddie" thing. When her eyes were green, she was a perky, jovial nutjob. When she had orange eyes, she was generally silent, brooding, angry, explosive, and kept mumbling. During this time, she kept her hand over her shoulder, gripping the hilt of her sword. Ben made sure to walk just a bit farther than her when this happened. More than once he wondered if he was doing the right thing by bringing a head-case into...regular society. But, she could fight. He had to give her that. He could have handled the cyberus very well without her. But she was fast. Though her comment shadowed the edges of his mind. Vorpal Blade. Where had he heard that before?


	2. Chapter 2: I'm Quite Mad, You See

2. I'm Quite Mad, You See

_The Madness in her_

_The darkness within_

_Comes out to play_

_With a sinister grin_

Hattie was left alone, as Ben had long since disappeared to find Dexter. He didn't want to welcome Hattie to the cause if Dexter felt she was more of a threat than an actual help. She stood in the center of Tech Square, looking so out of place, people had already sent her picture around cell phones and communicators, and a small group of people were gawking at her, trying to appear casual. Hattie ignored them. She was far too enraptured in the enormous holographic statues that hovered over her head and the buildings that were scattered here and there. Well, not really scattered. They were... ordered. Placed exactly, a certain distance apart. And they were _rectangular _for goodness's sake! What an utterly dull, unimaginative, bland shape! Hattie rolled her neon eyes, shaking her head. Upperworlders. She felt sorry for them. How would she ever find who she was looking for in this vast wasteland of... order and propriety? Perhaps this had been a mistake. Perhaps she shouldn't have come. Not here, at least. But where else was there to look? Nowhere. Though not specifically "Nowhere". Nowhere was a Somewhere, a Somewhere where Someones lived, apparently. At least, that's what the large, glowing map hovering to her right told her. An actual place called Nowhere. Hattie sighed. Maps. Charts. Graphs. This was her last chance. She was literally at the end of her rope. The desperation and anxiety weighing her down made her shoulders sag slightly. Maybe there would be time to continue searching the forests before-

"Hello!" Hattie wheeled, glancing around her. Her eyes immediately fell upon a huge, friendly smile. The first one she had seen in this foreign place. The smile belonged to a round face, which also possessed two huge blue eyes and golden curls. A boy, just a tad shorter than herself, in a red and white striped shirt, a green scarf, and blue trousers. Hattie beamed right back at him.

"Hello," she replied. The boy's smile grew a few more molars.

"I'm Flapjack. Who are you?" he asked. He was obviously unaffected by Hattie's appearance. Hattie tipped her hat.

"Hattie. It's very nice to meet you, Flapjack," Hattie said politely. Mad or not, a lady should keep her manners about her.

"Hattie's a nice name," Flapjack said, equally politely.

"Why, thank you. I rather like yours."

"What are you doing over here, by yourself?" Flapjack asked, motioning around him. Hattie sighed, putting her hands in her hips.

"I haven't the foggiest idea. Ben told me to wait here, where, I suppose, I will either be summoned or retrieved," Hattie replied thoughtfully.

"You know Ben?" Flapjack asked, curious.

"Yes. Nice boy, if a bit odd. I happened upon him in the forest. He invited me here, said it wasn't safe to remain where I was."

"What were you doing in the forest?" Flapjack sounded surprised. Hattie looked at him seriously.

"I am on a mission, Flapjack," she said quietly. Flapjack jumped in the air, like a little explosion.

"A mission? To a dangerous forest all alone?" he asked excitedly. Hattie nodded, smiling at him.

"_ADVENTURE_!" he shouted, pumping his fist in the air. Hattie thought about it.

"Why, yes. I suppose it is!" she agreed. She copied his excited motions, laughing and cheering with him.

"What is your mission?" Flapjack asked eventually, grinning. Hattie froze. Her smile twitched, then faded. She glanced over her shoulder.

"Well, you see, Flapjack, I'm looking for someone-"

"Who?" the boy asked. Hattie shushed him. Flapjack held both hands over his mouth.

"Someone who can save the place where I come from." Flapjack mumbled incoherently. Hattie cocked her head to the side.

"I beg your pardon?" she asked. Flapjack parted his fingers.

"Where's that?" he whispered, no doubt repeating his first sentence. Hattie hesitated. Could she tell this boy? _Should _she? Maybe he could help her find that one person.

"..._Wonderland_..." she answered wistfully. Flapjack's eyes sparkled.

"Oh, that sounds like a nice place." Hattie nodded.

"The nicest. Or..." Hattie looked away. _At least it was,_ she thought viciously. She could feel the darkness clouding her head. She fought back the Madness.

"Marvelous, magnificent, majestic, _magical, memorable, __**mystical**_-" she said rapidly. Focus on the happiness. Positive thoughts. Flapjack laughed a little, not seeing the worried, determined look in Hattie's eyes.

"What are you doing, friend?" Hattie froze again. She blinked, and the Madness slowly evaporated, sinking to the dark corners of her mind.

"Friend?" she asked. Flapjack nodded. Hattie managed a crooked smile. She looked at him.

"I've been considering things that start with the letter "m" lately." Flapjack accepted this answer, and began thinking of things that started with 'b', like boat or buddy. As Hattie struggled to overcome her Madness, Flapjack, blissfully unaware, hummed to himself.

"Banana... barge... buoy... barrel... bait... Beautiful big blue ocean! Oops, that doesn't start with 'b'... Um... Blueberry, batch, beast... Billy!" Flapjack suddenly cried out. Hattie looked up under the brim of her hat, keeping her eyes shaded. Her irises were a dark gray, showing her internal conflict, and she bit her lip to keep herself from giggling and/ or snarling at yet another boy who was fast approaching. What was it with these Upperworlders and their strange outfits? A white shirt with short sleeves and a random horizontal blue stripe across the middle, matched with a pair of blue pants of some sort, and odd-looking shoes with flat soles, and that hat! Actually, Hattie thought briefly, I quite like the hat. She swallowed dryly, forcing her Madness back until her eyes resumed their cheerful neon color.

"_Hey_, Flapjack, ol' buddy!" the new boy greeted cheerfully. He paused, turned to Hattie, squinted at her, and then jerked a thumb at her, facing Flapjack again.

"Who's the chick with the hat?" he asked, sounding confused and even mildly annoyed.

"Her name's Hattie," Flapjack answered, giving him a "that was rude" look. Hattie just copied Billy's posture and, pointing her own thumb at him, turned to Flapjack with a similar expression to Billy's on her face.

"Who is the boy with the rather prominent facial feature?" she asked, just as annoyed, though she was faking. Both Flapjack and Billy gave her odd looks. Hattie thought about it for a moment. She tried again.

"Who's Mr. Big Nose?" Flapjack covered his mouth with his hands again, trying not to laugh, and Billy frowned at her.

"Hey, who're you callin' Big Nose, Big Hat?" Hattie clenched her fists. _Easy, girl._ It was not an insult. He is merely attempting a comeback, a pathetic one at that. Hattie beamed, looking up as far as she could without moving her head to see as much of her hat as possible. It was a technique she taught herself to keep the Madness in check.

_One, two, Worbole in my shoe_

_Three, four, Queen at the door_

_Five, six, beat her with sticks_

_Seven, eight, her head on a plate_

_Nine, ten, never again..._

She thought to herself. "Worbole" was a common Wonderlandian children's rhyme, and one Hattie remembered from her mother. Or was it her father? She didn't remember either of them at all, really. But she must have had parents, right? Everyone did. Besides, where else would she hear the poem? She inhaled through her nose, stretching her smile wider.

"Oh, do calm down, I meant nothing by it," she said evenly. Billy just crossed his arms and turned away from her. Hattie's face lit up with a sneaky gleam in her eyes.

"Oh, dear," she sighed dramatically, "I'm dreadfully sorry. Perhaps I could tell you a story to make up for it?" Billy perked up. He grinned.

"_Yeahyeahyeahyeahyeahyeah_!" he chattered, bobbing his head up and down a dozen times or so. Hattie had quite a story to tell, indeed.

"Alright, Billy. But you must promise me something," Hattie said, coaxing, like a parent, or an older sibling. Billy thought about it.

"Well, okay," he shrugged, "as long as it's not anything _stupid_ or something." Hattie shook her head. She looked past his shoulder.

"Flapjack, would you like to hear a story?" Flapjack nodded, sitting on the ground cross-legged, looking eager. Billy dropped down beside him. Hattie looked around again, and then spoke very seriously.

"I'll need you two to assist me. As I said, I'm looking for someone. A girl, to be exact-"

"Uhh..." Billy droned, looking uncomfortable. Hattie looked at him funny.

"What? What do you- oh. Oh! No, Billy, not like that!" Hattie sounded appalled. Billy looked immensely relieved. Hattie sighed, trying again.

"I'm looking for a girl to _help_ me."

"Why?" Flapjack asked. Hattie sat on her knees in front of them.

"Well, that's the story, Flapjack. I need a girl with an imagination. Not just average imagination- the best. The biggest and brightest imagination. I expect her to be young, though the looks are anyone's guess. Now, the last girl like her was a perky little thing, so she'll probably be someone cheerful and upbeat. If you think you've found her, please come find me. I'll decide for myself if she's the one I need. Do you understand?" Hattie finished. Flapjack and Billy looked at each other. Something passed between them. Billy turned to Hattie, all business.

"We _might_ know someone like that, but we won't tell you until you tell us that story of yours," he said seriously. Flapjack nodded in confirmation. Hattie looked at them both. She clapped her hands together one time.

"Very well. You have a deal. Remember, boys, this is of vital importance. So don't lie to me," Hattie couldn't stop her eyes from shifting colors, just for a second, "D'ya understan'?" she asked again, voice slightly deeper and rougher. Both boys nodded, either not noticing or not caring about Hattie's voice, mood, and eye color change. Hattie cleared her head.

_Once there was a little girl_

_Who found herself in a twisted world_

_It was not the Wonderland of old_

_There's a different version that must be told_

_No caterpillars or decks of cards_

_No croquet, or Queen of Hearts_

_Just monsters and rebels_

_And sent from the Devil_

_A poison-filled box of tarts_

_The tarts were eaten, one and all_

_By a puppet court, destined to fall_

_And so rose through the ranks like a stalk from a bean_

_A murderous villain, the Bloody Red Queen_

_Now about that lass_

_Who fell down that hole_

_She fell quite fast_

_Down that chute black as coal_

_She was to save Wonderland_

_With her childhood pure_

_There was a wrench in this plan_

_The problem: a cure_

_When she escaped to her home, spattered and mangled_

_She was a quite sight, tattered and tangled_

_She ranted, she raved_

_She couldn't be saved_

_So they took the poor lass and they locked her away_

_Now this story is sad_

_And that much is true_

_But I've very good advice_

_I'll gladly tell you_

_Go find The Hatter, The Cat, and The Hare_

_And help them look, look everywhere_

_Who, you may ask?_

_Why, who indeed!_

_The reincarnation of the first Uulize_

_She was the Sanity_

_Who fought the Queen's Madness_

_She was the Smile_

_Who chased away Sadness_

_She was the Good_

_Who struggled with Badness_

_And hang all the trouble, the terror, the malice!_

_I am The Hatter. I'm looking for Alice_

Hattie finished in a hushed voice, whispering like a breeze. Flapjack and Billy had leaned forward so far, they nearly fell over when the girl stood up, dusting off her dress and socks. Flapjack, frowning a little, straightened, eyes sparkling with wetness.

"That was a sad story," he mumbled. Hattie looked down at him sympathetically, helping him up by the hand.

"I know, dear. But there's hope in there, too. Remember what I said, though. If you find that girl, please contact me," Hattie said, still stressing the importance of her mission. Flapjack looked like he was about to cry, but Billy looked thoughtful _(__**AN: **__shocking, ain't it?)_. Hattie helped him up as well.

"What is it, Billy?" she asked. Billy tugged off his cap and scratched his head.

"Ya know, I think I've heard of you before... maybe..." He thought about it for a few seconds longer, then shrugged, "Ah, well. Somethin' to do with hats. And a bunny, too." Hattie stiffened. Then she swallowed and relaxed. She cleared her throat, about to take her leave, when a familiar voice reached her ears. She cocked her head to the side, looking over her shoulder.

"Oh, Ben, dear! Did you go and do that... erm... What was it you left to do, again?" Hattie questioned. Ben didn't exactly answer Hattie's question.

"You're gonna have to come with me, Hattie," he said, casting a glance at Flapjack and Billy. Hattie, though slightly confused, was elated that she had not been forgotten. She smiled and nodded, following Ben deeper into the world Creativity forgot.

Hattie was situated in a medium-sized, square room, made of white, solid-looking material which looked to be Styrofoam but was actually stronger than steel, a special blend of polymers. Hattie wasn't fond of the shape, or the color. She wasn't pleased with the metal table before her, gleaming in all its perfection, or the uncomfortable straight-backed chair she was being forced to sit in. She had discovered, to her slight irritation, that if she moved too much, such as shifting her weight, a rather annoying buzzer would go off, and a recorded voice would blare out of the four speakers around the room: _"Please remain seated. Your interview will begin soon."_

"Interview..." Hattie snorted softly, "Might as well be an interrogation. An _irritating _interrogation. _Immeasurably_ irritating interrogation. Immeasurably, _increasingly irritating_ interview, _interrogation_, _icy isolation, __**insomnia**__, __**insanity**_..." she whispered faster and faster, eyes fading to blue as her loneliness and discomfort increased. The metal table before her hummed, and a projection appeared before her. It was very clear, and seemed to be very high quality. A face was on that holographic screen. A face with red hair, thick glasses, and a very serious expression. Hattie had but two words for that face.

"_Incredibly intimidating_," she breathed. She blinked, shaking her head slightly. No more "letter i", she thought angrily. She sat there for what seemed like a very long time, during which she checked her pocket watch exactly sixteen times.

"Why do you keep checking your watch? The time has not changed much since the last time you checked it, specifically thirty-two seconds ago," the boy on the screen eventually said. His voice was soft but clipped, very business-like. He couldn't have been more than thirteen, and it made Hattie's heart sick to see a complete lack of a childish, Devil-may-care attitude in one so young. She grinned at him, in spite of her sadness, which was evident in her deep purple eyes.

"Well, I'm just making sure Time has not fallen asleep again, or else is holding a grudge. Time is a very fickle fellow, you know," she explained, checking the dented watch again. The minute hand clicked once.

"AHA!" Hattie cried triumphantly, "You see?" she said, holding the watch up to the screen, "I thought Time might've died, what with you and I killing him by doing nothing. But no! He's very much alive, if a tad slow." She saw the boy blink.

"Killing... time?" he asked. Hattie nodded slowly.

"Time is so sensitive, you see. Killing him puts such a damper on his mood, and when that happens, history tends to repeat itself. It's quite a mess, after a while... or, perhaps it's a mess in no time at all, what with Time going on strike," Hattie tapped her watch twice before sighing happily. She clapped her hands.

"Well, is there something you would like to discuss? Debate? _Determine, decide, discourse,_ _**dissertate, deliberate, **__**dispute**_-" The boy on screen cleared his throat loudly. Hattie paused, and the orange tinge faded from her eyes. She sat back, hands folded in her lap. She twiddled her thumbs apologetically.

"I'm sorry. It's a rather difficult impulse to control, the alliteration and whatnot." The boy nodded, uncertainly, just once.

"Ben said you would be a bit off." Hattie perked up. At last, a familiar name!

"Oh, I do hope he explained my... erm..." Hattie placed a hand near her mouth, "...anger issues. It's really rather curious. I don't recall any actual changes, but I do see the look on people's faces after I... well, never mind all that."

"So, you suffer from bipolar disorder, or multiple personalities." This was a statement of fact, not a question.

"What is that?"

"It is a mental disease in which your personality is broken down and it appears you have split into two different people. It's treatable with therapy and certain medications." Hattie cocked her head to the side. Then she grinned. Then she laughed. She laughed and laughed, increasing in pitch and volume. She laughed for quite a bit.

"_ENOUGH!_" the boy snapped. Hattie was quiet immediately. She stared at the boy, and then smiled.

"Oh, my, you don't honestly believe that your Upperworld ailments can affect a Wonderlander?" Hattie chuckled. The stranger crossed his arms.

"Wonderland? Oh, for the love of... You can't _honestly_..." he trailed off angrily. He appeared to be ending the transmission, but right before it faded, Hattie asked a question.

"Have you any idea why a raven is like a writing desk?" She did not receive an answer.

"Wonderland, Ben! _WONDERLAND!_" Dexter shouted, pacing in front of the teenager. Ben shrugged slightly.

"I told you she was cuckoo," he offered as explanation.

"_'Off-center'_ or even _'eccentric' _is not the same as completely insane!"

"Oh, come on. How bad could she have been?" Ben was surprised to find that he was a little frightened of the answer.

"You should have heard the way she went on and on. She talked about time as though it were a person, and blamed me for killing it! She laughed at our so-called 'Upperworld diseases', claiming to be immune to such things as mental illness! For God's sake, Ben, she has a maniacal laugh!" Dexter ranted.

"Then there's the eye thing," Ben pointed out.

"Probably just mercury that seeped into her head, most likely from that giant hat of hers. She truly believes she's the Mad Hatter, Ben! We can't have her running about!"

"Okay, okay! I'll get a team to drop her off in the forest somewhere," Ben said, holding his hands up in surrender. He pressed a button on his communicator.

"Numbuh 6027, bring the newbie up for transfer and drop-off," he ordered. A few seconds later, he received a reply.

"Newbie, sir?" came the adolescent voice, cracking in confusion.

"Interrogation room 76C, Numbuh 6027," Ben replied, a little impatiently. There was but a very brief pause.

"There's no one in room 76C, sir." Ben paused.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, sir."

"…Check the tapes." A minute of silence.

"The tapes have... they've been, uh..." the operative stuttered.

"Come on, spit it out!" Ben demanded.

"They've been… uh, wiped, sir."

"...What?"

"Wiped clean. No feed for at least half an hour. All vital signs are flat in that room. No alarms have been set off. No one's there, sir," the younger boy insisted.

"Well, I'll just see for myself," Ben muttered, ending the connection.

"No need." Ben looked at Dexter, who was staring at a small screen in his hand. A camera view from a different angle. A button camera, or something a lot more efficient and much less detectable. Ben closed the distance between them in two strides.

"No way," he breathed. Interrogation room 76C was completely devoid of life. Hattie was gone.

"One, two, Worbole in my shoe..." Hattie hummed to herself. She was quite certain no one could hear her, being the size of a small thimble. It was just a matter of waiting for the opportune moment, and when that moment arrived, Hattie had quickly popped a small vial on her necklace and sipped the light blue liquid within. Jetterfloo Goo, also known as shrinking tonic. The shrinking had been painless, if a bit disorienting, and had happened very quickly. She doubted they had seen her abrupt change in size, especially with Time on her side, freezing the cameras in a permanent loop. After that, it was the rather large (or is it "small"?) task of shimmying down the chair leg and trekking across the floor, finally squeezing under the door. Hattie stood up and straightened her dress.

"I remember when doors and floors were wooden and warm, not cold and metallic," she huffed, "And when one needn't be the width of a Mome Rath's whisker to slide under it!" She took her hat off and dusted it carefully, straightening the feather snug in the ribbon.

"Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous, and a complete waste of Jetterfloo Goo..." she grumbled quietly. The tile floor stretched endlessly before her on the outside of her prison. It seemed to be thousands of stark, white miles before she reached the elevator, and who knows how long after that? Hattie snarled, her impatience bubbling to the surface in the form of Maddie.

"Naught for usal, this whole ridiculous escape plan o' mine," she grumbled to herself, meaning there was no use trying. She had had to walk a long ways in her average size, and had no desire to walk longer than that, with her tiny legs and smaller feet. It would take her days to get out of this Sanehouse. Maddie shivered, eyes glimmering yellow in the shadow of her hat. She was thinking. Very hard.

"'Ow do Ah git meself ou' o' 'ere withou' gittin' squashed like a Noozen?" she whispered, tapping her chin. A Noozen, dear reader, is a very small, very annoying rodent, a bit like a hamster, though with scales, not fur, and three eyes not two. These creatures are as numerous in Wonderland as roaches are in the Upperworld, but much easier to kill. A favorite pastime for Wonderlandian children is a game known as "Squash the Noozen", and though their numbers hardly shift, the whole two weeks of life granted to a Noozen can't be enjoyable. Truthfully, Maddie could very easily be mistaken for a Noozen, if anyone cared to look down. She backed up against a wall, pondering, wondering, uffishly thinking.

The ground shook.

It shook again.

Maddie was bouncing slightly with the force vibrating through the floor. Footsteps. Maddie's pale face gained a yellowish tinge and her eyes turned pink. Fear.

"Ah'm gonna be stepped on!" she realized. Maddie wasn't one to tolerate fear. She was more rip-your-head-off side of Hattie, just as Hattie was the more emotional side of Maddie. Quick as a flash, Hattie was forced out of their shared subconscious and brought to the light, to be forced to deal with the problem quickly approaching. A big problem. A big... pink... problem.

DeeDee was a very happy person. She generally was at all hours of the day. Lately, however, her happiness and characteristic perky attitude had dwindled to near average, heaven forbid. There wasn't much time for random bouts of laughter, or dancing. She spent most of her time rushing from patient to patient, tending to them as long as she could until her legs gave out. The things she had seen. Horrible scars of the long-waged war, some that would never go away. DeeDee was one of the few people who knew, _really_ knew, how easy it was to lose a limb. She had seen it herself. Rather than losing her resolve, she moved on without a second thought. If a limb couldn't be saved, there was a prosthetic handy. She had seen terrible things in her time, but never, not _once_, had she lost anyone. And she was determined to never let it happen.

For the first time in about three months, DeeDee felt carefree. Not entirely, of course, but enough to have her skipping down the corridors humming to herself. DeeDee was tired of the war, as was everyone else. She knew they needed something extraordinary to assist them, just give them that edge they were missing. But what? Amazing technology, thousands of soldiers; how could it not be enough? They were still losing, and yet no one knew why! As she contemplated this, humming without a tune, she got the strangest feeling she was being watched. Of course, she was watched all the time. There were cameras everywhere, after all. But this was a different kind of creepy feeling. The kind she wasn't used to, and didn't like one bit. She stopped skipping immediately, slippers skidding slightly on the smooth floor. She became quiet, looking around out of the corners of her eyes.

"Hello?" she whispered to no one in particular. A peep. DeeDee twitched. _What was that?_ she thought nervously. Another peep, and it sounded surprisingly like the word 'down'. DeeDee instinctively backed up a few feet. There was a tiny pattering sound, followed by a louder squeak.

"...Down here...!" DeeDee looked down. There, not an inch from her foot, was a-

"_MOUSE!_" DeeDee shrieked, jumping a foot in the air and backing against a wall. The green mouse scampered forward on two paws, squeaking and hopping slightly with DeeDee's frantic stomping. It latched onto one of her shoes and was whipped about as DeeDee shook her foot vigorously, shrieking the whole time. As the small green rodent clambered up to her ankle, DeeDee swatted at it with both hands.

"Ew! Ew! _EWW_!" she yelled. The mouse waited until DeeDee's hand came for its head, then jumped up and held onto her bracelet. DeeDee freaked, for lack of a better term. Not knowing what else to do, and since she was having a bit of a meltdown, she grabbed her pigtails and pulled them flat by her head, biting her lip.

"Come now! Stop this foolishness!" a pip by her ear commanded. DeeDee blinked.

"Hello?" she whispered, voice trembling.

"I'll have you know one of my best friends is a dormouse!" piped the little voice. DeeDee looked around in wonder.

"Are... are you my conscience?" she asked.

"Noh, ya daft twit! Ah'm hangin' frum yer bracelet, jus' look dowen!" DeeDee frowned. Rude conscience, she thought. But, she did comply, looking down at her wrist, which wasn't far, since she was still yanking on her pigtails. What she saw didn't quite make sense to her. There, dangling from the gold bangle, was a very small, very angry-looking girl with purple hair in a hat and dress. She looked disheveled, and DeeDee wondered how she had managed to keep the hat on her head.

"Now, do Ah look like a mouse?" the girl asked. DeeDee slowly shook her head. The tiny girl sighed and lowered her head. After a moment she looked back up with a smile.

"There now. Was all that fuss really necessary?" she chirped. Again, DeeDee shook her head.

"Who are you...?" she asked softly. The girl considered this for a moment.

"Well, I suppose with the racket you made, you would find out sooner or later. I am Hattie, my dear, and you are...?" the girl replied, her voice comical.

"...DeeDee..."

"Well, now that we are no longer strangers, and since I am obviously not a rodent of any sort, would you mind putting me down? Dangling here is rather awkward and most informal." DeeDee hastily dropped to her knees and placed the bracelet on the ground, watching as Hattie righted herself, a grin on her face.

"There now, that's better," she sighed. She began searching through various pockets in her dress and waistcoat, patting them down and mumbling to herself. Eventually, DeeDee had to ask: "What're you looking for?" Hattie did not look up.

"Tattamilly tarts. Being this small puts me at a bit of a disadvantage in leaving, and tattamillies are so good at righting just such a situation," Hattie replied anxiously.

"Tattamilly..." DeeDee tried the word. It felt heavy on her tongue, and somehow made her throat dry. It was a lovely word, but it sounded odd to her. Unnatural, in a way. She opted not to speak it frequently. Hattie sighed peevishly and plopped down on the floor, legs stretched in front of her and arms crossed over her chest.

"I seem to have left my tarts elsewhere. Oh, bother, how am I to escape now?"

"Escape?" DeeDee perked up. She was instantly alert, standing up and towering over Hattie, who could not crane her neck high enough to see her face.

"Are you a Fusion?" DeeDee growled. It did sound a tad terrifying. But, when you're barely an inch tall, lots of things seem terrifying: a puppy, birds, puddles, tricycles, falling acorns...

"_WHAT'S A FUSION?_" Hattie cupped her hands to her mouth, screaming so DeeDee could hear her.

"Those mean green monsters that have been terrorizing this planet for forever!" DeeDee snapped back. Hattie held her hands over her ears protecting them from the noise.

"_GREEN I MAY BE, DRESS-WISE, AT LEAST, BUT A MONSTER I AM NOT!"_

"Then why were you being held here?"

"_I'M AFRAID I'M NOT VERY POPULAR AROUND HERE! YOU SEE, I'M TRYING TO LOCATE SOMEONE, BUT APPARENTLY I AM SEEN AS A THREAT! I AM ESCAPING TO CONTINUE MY SEARCH!_" DeeDee mulled this over in her head. She crouched down.

"Who are you looking for?" she demanded. Hattie sat down again, sitting on her knees with her hands in her lap.

"The newest Uulize," she replied simply.

"Uh-leez?" DeeDee echoed in confusion. Hattie nodded.

"Hmm... What's that?" Hattie thought about her answer again.

"Well, you see, DeeDee," she began carefully, "The Uulize is a very special girl that has the ability to save my home-"

"Where?"

"...Wonderland, but-"

"WONDERLAND!" DeeDee suddenly shouted, nearly knocking over Hattie in the process, "REALLY? I... no way... not possible…" DeeDee rolled her eyes. Hattie straightened her hat and smoothed her dress.

"If you doubt that what I say is the truth, then how can you explain my diminutive stature?"

"Your what?"

"My size."

"Oh! Well, that's easy. My brother made a shrinking machine _years_ ago..." DeeDee scoffed, waving a hand nonchalantly. Hattie tapped her chin.

"Alright, if what you say is true, I suppose that could be a reasonable explanation... Ah! Explain how I got out of that wretched room without being caught," Hattie said with a snap of her fingers. DeeDee blinked.

"_You_ got out of _there _without being _caught?_" she breathed. Hattie nodded. DeeDee looked at the door to the room in question. It was closed, the electronic locks and alarms were functional, and no one had come to investigate. Hattie really had gotten out without anyone letting her! After a few moments of DeeDee's frankly stunned silence, Hattie cleared her throat. DeeDee looked at her, not quite sure what to make of the strange girl before her.

"I am dreadfully sorry, but I am afraid I will have to cut this chat short. I'm in a bit of a rush, you see," Hattie said apologetically. With a sigh, she began walking away. DeeDee slammed a hand in front of her, barring the Wonderlander's way. Hattie looked up, unafraid, but confused.

"You said it yourself. You need those tarts. But it'll take you forever to get out of this hallway, let alone outside!" DeeDee plucked the smaller girl up by the back of her dress and stood up. Hattie held onto her hat with both hands.

"Are you offering to take me out of here?" she asked breathlessly. DeeDee nodded.

"You're not a Fusion, and you're not mean, except for that one time... Anyway, your mission must be really important to risk getting caught escaping from DexLabs. So, yeah, I'll help you out, on one condition." Hattie crossed her arms, still suspended in midair.

"And that would be?" she huffed, shaking her head to flip a purple pigtail out of her face.

"Tell me all about Wonderland, and how I could go there." Hattie froze.

"You… really are interested in Wonderland? You believe it exists?" she asked slowly, squinting at the larger girl. DeeDee nodded eagerly, her eyes sparkling. Hattie grinned from ear to ear.

"DeeDee, my dear, you have a deal. Tell me, you _are _human, correct?"

"Well, yeah, what else would I be?" DeeDee replied. Hattie just smiled.

"Wonderful." DeeDee placed Hattie on her shoulder, and the smaller girl crossed her legs, looking around.

"You're very tall. Do people tell you that often?" Hattie asked.

"All the time. But, you know, you're only an inch or so."

"Yes, but had I been normal height, you still would have stood taller than me."

"Speaking of which, about Wonderland…"

"Oh, right!" Hattie exclaimed. She checked her pocket watch, and then looked at DeeDee.

"I will start at the beginning, and when I get to the end, I shall stop," she proclaimed. DeeDee nodded, rolling her eyes.

"Good plan."

"Thank you. Now, you wish to know all about Wonderland, do you not?"

"Yes," DeeDee answered as she began walking.

"Alright. The first thing you should know is that there was a boy many, many years ago who found his way into Wonderland. Now, we had never seen a human before, but he was accepted. After all, who would turn away a child, lost and alone? Certainly not I, nor my companions. Charles was his name, and he was a delight at tea parties and coronations. But, I'm afraid that the sheer overwhelming power of the fantasies of Wonderland clouded his mind. He became explosive, moody, depressed. He would walk around and talk to himself for hours on end. Well, _I _do that, but he would argue with himself, and such a relationship with oneself is decidedly unhealthy.

"Eventually, he became violent, and attacked Wonderlanders. He persuaded the Lion that the Unicorn was saying nasty things behind his back, and as such, the Lion ate the Unicorn. That whole area of Wonderland fell to ruin."

"Ruin?" DeeDee asked, "Why?"

"Well, you see dear, the balance of Wonderland is _very _delicate. Each Wonderlander depends on his environment and his neighbor and what said neighbor may or may not do to said environment. The Lion and Unicorn were the rulers of that particular territory, and without a ruler, kingdoms fall… Unfortunately, one ruler takes advantage of such situations. Anyway, Charles was becoming less of a child and more of a tyrant. We had no choice but to send him back to his world."

"Through the rabbit hole?" DeeDee asked. Hattie gave her a weird look.

"Rabbit…Oh! No, DeeDee. You see, Charles was quite bitter about his banishment, and, in retaliation, told lies about Wonderland to his fellow Upperworlders. Or at least, that's what we heard. I don't think Charles would do such a thing. His mind may have been tainted, but I believe his heart was in the right place." DeeDee thought in silence for a moment. Then she snapped her fingers.

"Do you mean Lewis Carroll?" she asked. Hattie gave her another odd look.

"No… I'm certain his name was Charles Dodgson-"

"That's what I mean! He made up a fake name to write stories about Wonderland. Lewis Carroll's real name was Charles Dodgson!" Hattie looked at the floor as it rushed by, pondering.

"I refuse to believe Charles would ever write such a thing," she grumbled, her eyes flicking to orange for a minute. DeeDee stepped into an elevator and pressed a button.

"Believe it. So, all his books were lies?"

"I'm not sure. I've never read them. Surely he can't have lied about me?"

"Well, he could've been talking about another Mad Hatter," DeeDee suggested, though it sounded more like a question. Hattie crossed her arms.

"Stories… little Charles, lying about Wonderland… I'll need to see some proof, DeeDee," Hattie said firmly. DeeDee shrugged.

"Alright. I'll bring the books to you later. On the front steps, okay? Right now, we gotta get you out of here before someone thinks_ I'm_ insane. I don't want that." DeeDee laughed a little, shaking her head, but Hattie frowned. _She doesn't want to appear insane to others? Perhaps she's not… no, no, no, don't be ridiculous, she has all the proper qualifications. Happy, bubbly, and she's even blonde! _Hattie assured herself. DeeDee must be the Uulize. She must.


	3. Chapter 3: Anger Issues

_**Thanks to SyddieG for reviewing, and VeggieVampBabe, but I don't really count you, little miss smartass :P**_

_**Thank you, FoxGoddess2416 for adding me to your alert list!**_

_**Here we go! My personal favorite story yet again!**_

3. Anger Issues

_It is not wise_

_To upset the Crazies_

_For soon after you_

_Could be pushing up daisies_

DeeDee, at Hattie's request, left the miniscule Wonderlander on the ground outside. Hattie was told to remain where she was while the much, much taller girl ran off to retrieve the books. Hattie's proof. The Wonderlander sat on a large, intricate stone step, legs dangling high above the stair beneath it. She tapped her tiny fingers impatiently. She didn't have all day to wait for a book filled with what she feared to be proof of Charles's betrayal. DeeDee had told her that Charles, or Lewis Carroll, as he apparently preferred to be known, was considered a crackpot anyway, so it was not as if humans went on a search for Wonderland. Hattie's home, and the lies about it, were simple children's stories here. _Entertainment. _But, she supposed, that's why such things are called _lies._

It was a good ten to fifteen minutes later when Hattie heard the rhythmic thud-thud-thudding of running feet. She looked up expectantly, the afternoon sun dazzling her briefly. DeeDee panted into view, a book tucked under her arm. She plopped on the stair next to Hattie, who jumped unwillingly into the air. DeeDee set the hard-backed book on the lower step, opening to the first page. Hattie jumped off of her perch and walked the length of the book.

"This is it?" she asked, shocked. It wasn't nearly as thick as she expected it to be. This was _Wonderland _after all. Surely there was more than _this _to write about! DeeDee nodded. Hattie used both hands to rapidly turn the pages as she skimmed, occasionally letting out a little outburst of anger or a snort of disgust.

"Look here! A rabbit hole! As if a mindless animal could _dig_ its way to Wonderland!"

"The Dormouse? In a teapot? Ridiculous! Everyone knows they prefer left shoes!"

"The March Hare… What? He doesn't even give his name? Not only is that rude, it's incorrect. His name is Mithum, you know."

"Ah, here we are… the Mad Hatter… a _man?_ How _dare_ that impudent little guddler's scut! A _man_, and a poor man with a bulbous nose at that!"

"Ha! Painting the roses red! He must have _forgotten _why her roses were that color…"

"Oh, please. A Knave, stealing her tarts?" Hattie spat on the book and slammed it shut with all her might. She sat on the ground and crossed her arms angrily, grumbling in Wonderlandish. DeeDee looked at her worriedly. She picked up the smaller girl with her thumb and forefinger by the back of her dress and placed the protesting Wonderlander on her other palm, holding her at eyelevel. Hattie's eyes were a strange color. A dark yellow-ish color. Not quite orange. Odd, DeeDee could've sworn Hattie's eyes were a bright green.

"So…?" she asked uncertainly.

"Itsa pack o' _lies_, lassie! Ah'm cert'nly noh man, and Alice was nevah so bluddy stoopid!" DeeDee blinked at Hattie's tone. And accent.

"…All of it?"

"Ev'ry blinkin' werd o' it!"

"So… now what?"

"Ah'll kep searchin' for tha Ohlayz. Ah hev a feelin' tha lass isn't far." DeeDee nodded and put Hattie down. After a few moments of heavy breathing and muttering to herself, Hattie gazed up at DeeDee, eyes narrowed in anger.

"Burn… that… book…" she said slowly, as if struggling to control her words. DeeDee looked at her gold-embossed book. Lies or not, she couldn't burn it! She loved the innocent, nonsensical story. She bit her lower lip and slowly shook her head at Hattie. The Wonderlander stiffened, and then nodded.

"You're right… I'm merely angry, that's all… Forgive me for asking you to burn one of your possessions…" the tiny girl forced out. It sounded like a growl, but DeeDee just nodded and gathered up her book, hugging it close. Hattie turned down any assistance in recovering her tarts, insisting they weren't located far away. She jumped off of the last two steps as DeeDee walked away. _She believes in Charles's lies. She doesn't want to, but she does. _ Hattie stepped carefully over cracks in the stone plaza, knowing that if she fell in one she would injure herself. It was true that her tarts were not located far away. In fact, they were under her hat. Hattie had lied for three reasons. One: she wanted to get out of "DexLabs" as fast as Wonderlandly possible; Two: She did not want to reveal her secret hiding spot to anyone, including DeeDee; Three: She wanted to see if DeeDee was truly the Uulize. Hattie was still unsure about the last one. But surely, who else could it be? DeeDee fit, Hattie had to admit. She tugged her hat off and flipped upside down, reaching into it. She grunted and reached further down, up to her shoulder. She huffed and looked inside, taking her arm out and sticking her head in. She let out a triumphant, forced chuckle and reached in again, pulling out a small, round pastry that looked remarkably… unremarkable. It looked like a plain vanilla cupcake, though it lacked both a paper cup and icing.

Hattie looked into the sky, shielding her eyes from the sunlight. She did a quick calculation, and then pinched a bit of the Tattamilly off. She bit into it daintily, and then quickly stored the rest away. At first, nothing happened. Then Hattie hiccupped. She didn't have a chance to excuse herself before she hiccupped again. And again. And again. She was hopping with the force of her hiccups. It was at that moment that she began to hiccup blue bubbles. They were small at first, and then they grew bigger and bigger, eventually shrouding the Wonderlander in a blanket of bubbles. Hattie felt her legs and feet begin to grow, followed shortly after by her arms and hands, then her head, neck, and torso. The bubbles grew with her, expanding to monstrous proportions. Then, they all suddenly popped. It was a grand sight, dozens of huge bubbles exploding all at once, buffeting the wind and sending clouds of dust and dirt swirling away. A regular-sized Hattie placed a hand to her mouth.

"Pardon _me_," she chuckled. She looked at the spot the book known as "Alice in Wonderland" had been laying not two minutes earlier. She made an animal-like noise in the back of her throat. _No, no, no! Not now! _she chastised herself. Hattie swallowed hard, taking her Madness with it.

"Hattie! Hey, Hattie!" Hattie spun around immediately. Billy and Flapjack were racing towards her at an alarming speed. Hattie sidestepped them, and they tumbled to the ground, landing in a heap. Hattie tutted, concerned, as she pulled them up by their shirts.

"Flapjack, Billy, slow down! You'll hurt yourselves!" Hattie chastised them. The boys dusted themselves off.

"Hey, we found that girl you were looking for," Billy said, straightening his cap. Hattie held a finger to her chin, smirking.

"Have you now?" she asked, rolling her eyes slightly. Flapjack nodded proudly and pointed. Hattie turned. At first, she was confused. Then, she was amused. She giggled, shaking her head. She cleared her throat, controlling her laughter.

"Forgive me, my dear, but there appears to have been a misunderstanding," Hattie said, looking over her shoulder at Billy and Flapjack, both of whom shrugged. The girl before Hattie held her hands out beside her and smiled good-naturedly, blue eyes sparkling.

"It's okay. They never even told me why I needed to follow them, but I'm always up for an adventure." Billy clapped a hand over Flapjack's mouth before the boy could echo the word like a battle cry. Hattie dropped her head.

"'Tis a shame, you very well could have passed for her," Hattie said disappointedly. The girl tugged on her blonde pigtail thoughtfully.

"'Her' who?" Hattie smirked.

"Never mind. It doesn't matter now."

"I'm sorry I couldn't help."

"Do not trouble yourself about it. Sorry to have bothered you." Hattie tipped her hat to the girl and turned on her heel. There was a slight breeze, and Hattie knew the stranger was gone. She smiled at Billy and Flapjack, who stared at the ground dejectedly.

"Chin up, boys. I appreciate the effort, and it was not in vain," Hattie said encouragingly. Billy kicked the ground.

"I was sure Bubbles would be the girl, though!" he grumbled in frustration. He yanked his hat off and threw it on the ground, crossing his arms. Hattie knelt and picked up the red cap, dusting it off.

"Now, now, pouting solves nothing. And throwing your _hat _does less," Hattie said sternly. Billy snatched it from her and pulled it over his ginger hair roughly.

"Hattie… are you sure Bubbles wasn't the right one?" Flapjack asked softly. Hattie nodded with absolute certainty.

"Well, how do you know?" Hattie pointed straight up into the sky.

"The Uulize doesn't fly, dear." Hattie looked around briefly, and then began walking away without another word.

Hattie replayed the day's events in her head. She felt as though she had fallen off of a very high ledge. She was on her way down, but she was still so far from the ground. On the one hand, the ground would be very painful and probably fatal. On the other hand, Hattie was growing tired of the long, tedious, boring fall. Finding DeeDee had somehow altered her descent. Whether it slowed her down or sped her up, she wasn't sure, nor was she sure about which one she would prefer.

"DeeDee must be the Uulize. I've seen no one else who so closely resembles the first one!" Hattie cried. Her eyes shifted to orange and she clenched her fists.

"Righ' an' Ah s'pose tha''er state o' mind won't affec' Wunderlan' a'tall! Tha Ohlayz mah _hat_! Ya 'eard 'er! Tha lass wants _nuthin'_ ta do with Madness!" Maddie snapped back. The Madwoman shivered as her eyes cooled.

"Enough of this nonsense, Maddie! Arguing with each other will not help anything! We'll end up like-"

"Charles? O' course, why not? Tha lad _lied_ ta ya, Hattie! 'E betrayed all o' us!"

"He was hurt and confused! He would never-"

"Gah! Wake up an' smell tha teh, lass!"

"Why, I _never_-" Hattie and Maddie, or rather, the only girl in the square at the time, paused mid rant/argument. Hattie quirked her head at an angle, listening. She heard all sorts of sounds. Explosions, shouting, screaming…

"Oh my… what do you suppose…?" she trailed off. White flashes of light dotted her vision. She did not panic. This was not the first time her Madness had progressed into visions of the past. Hattie was transported to another time, another place. Standing in a forest, a dark green clearing with the ragged remains of Wonderland huddled before her. The faces were blurry, and the voices were muffled. On either side of her, two beings shuffled and shifted, talking to her. She knew what they were saying. She had committed it to memory.

"_Things have progressed far too rapidly, Hattie. We need the Uulize now, if we didn't need her before."_

"_Ah tol' ya! O'course weh need tha lil' lass back!"_

"_That Uulize is long gone, Mithum. We need another."_

"_Anothah Alice?"_

"_Another Alice."_

"_Wha' with tha Bluddy Red Queen destroyin' Wunderlan', ye've only got a lil' time, lassie."_

"_Time has always favored Hattie, Mithum."_

Hattie was pulled back to the here-and-now with raw memories of the war, of death and destruction. New resolve for finding the Uulize. A new Alice. A sliver of Madness wormed its way into her mind. _Protect The Alice. She's probably being attacked by the Queen now._ This thought was followed shortly after by an explosion and a high-pitched scream. _If she dies, it's your fault._

Hattie's eyes became a dark orange and adrenaline coursed through her bloodstream. She heard the blood begin to pound in her ears. She slowly reached over her shoulder and grabbed the hilt of her sword. She held it in beside her for a minute, still as a statue. _Your fault. Again. _She took off running. Her hat's scarf flapped behind her, and Maddie kept her head lowered to increase her speed. Around her, the sounds of a battle grew steadily louder. A pearl-white grin crept onto Maddie's face and her eyes gleamed evilly. She leapt over a wall with no effort whatsoever, barely pausing to take in the scene before her. Her ears picked up a slight whistling. Maddie glanced out of the corner of her eye, and then ducked. Her actions were inhumanly fast, and had she not been a Wonderlander, she most likely would have died, unable to dodge in time. Death by flying shrapnel.

On the wall, stationed at a KND candy turret, a boy with sandy blonde hair pulled back his orange hood to get a better look at the sight before him, not quite believing the reflexes this one girl possessed.

Maddie popped back up like a jack-in-the-box, giggling. She pulled the brim of her hat low and ran. She jumped onto the wall and ran its length, flipping off only to attack a vicious-looking monster with ravenous teeth and thrashing claws. She carved through it like a tender turkey, relishing the gore. She laughed loudly, looking around for her next target. She saw it almost immediately. A rather rotund monster covered in a sickly green slime. Maddie wrinkled her nose in disgust as the creature's stench hit her. It seemed to sense her and turned, clenching its dripping fists and roaring, exposing its flat, enormous teeth. Maddie growled quietly. She flipped her sword behind her back and over her head, building up momentum. As the monster attacked, Maddie flicked her wrist, and noted with satisfaction the disgusting squelching noise her blade made when it sailed cleanly through the thing. Once she retrieved her sword, Maddie marched through the remains, dragging her long blade on the dead grass to clean it. She was showing all her teeth in a horrific grin, and if anyone cared to look past her terrifying eyes, sword, and attack moves, they would have noticed that her teeth were quite pointed.

In the air, a young lady by the name of Blossom looked down, just for a second. She was surprised at the stranger's accuracy.

Again, Maddie's ears perked as they heard yet another whistling noise. Keeping her head bowed, she lifted her sword and turned, deflecting a large, gooey projectile. She skidded back a few feet with the force of the impact, but quickly recovered. Maddie gazed at her dripping weapon thoughtfully. Her eyes flashed, her arm seemed to barely twitch, and suddenly a large, insect-like creature lay before her, dead, Maddie's sword protruding out of its abdomen.

Not twenty feet away, Ben paused for a tick. He blinked at Maddie's speed and ferocity.

Maddie planted a black shoe on the monster and pulled her sword out roughly. She made a delighted squealing noise as she did so. It was a rather disturbing sight. There was a fearsome screech coming from behind her. Maddie wheeled, looking thoroughly bored. An enormous metallic spider hissed at her, clawing at the ground. Maddie yawned. The monster let out a piercing scream and scrabbled towards her, metal legs making the most awful sound on the hard ground. Maddie's head twitched at the sound of someone's warning.

"It's a Tech Queen!" Maddie's eyes flicked back over to the beast. White dots flashed in front of her again. She shook them away. No time for memories. Maddie had no stomach for the past, anyway. But that did not stop her Madness from driving her on. _Queen. It's the Queen. The Uulize. If she dies it's your fault. Your fault. Uulize. Dead. Bloody Red Queen. Red. Uulize. Queen. Dead. Fault. Attack. NOW!_ Maddie shuddered. The spider was racing towards her, fangs dripping with some sort of substance. If Maddie possessed any rational thought, she would have guessed venom. But rationality was long gone from the Wonderlander's system. The spider lunged, and Maddie barely rolled away in time, landing in a crouched position. Her eyes were no longer the fiery orange they usually were in her bouts of Madness. Instead, they glowed with an evil, cold, blood-colored darkness. Her skin was deathly pale, and shadows appeared under her eyes and cheekbones. She looked like death. She charged on her toes, sword held like a human would a baseball bat. She twisted her wrists and swung. Her swing hacked off two legs, and the spider tottered. Maddie swung again, taking another leg here, another there. The Tech Queen hissed in pain and anger, spitting green fluid. Maddie planted a foot on it, looking down her nose at the thrashing creature. Green slime was pooling at her feet.

"_Dowen weth Tha Bluddy Red Queen,_" she snarled. She plunged her sword through the creature's head, ending its thrashing, but for a small twitch in the remaining four legs. Maddie's face was a gruesome mask. She kept slashing at the creature, rendering it a little more than scrap metal and pulp.

"_Slurking urpal slackish scrum! Go beck ta tha 'ell 'ole ya crawled frum!"_ she screeched. Somewhere, in the back of Maddie's mind, Hattie's tiny voice rang out like a whisper. _Have I made a rhyme?_ _Maddie? Mattie. Hattie... _

"_HATTIE!_" someone shouted, coming from behind her and grabbing her shoulders. Someone else wrested the sword from her hands.

"_Gev meh beck tha Vorpal sword!" _she shouted, her voice deep and furious. Strong arms hefted the girl up, pinning her arms by her sides. Maddie kicked, spitting profanity in Upperworldish and Wonderlandish. She squeezed her blood-red eyes shut. She wriggled and squirmed. She may have even bit someone with her slightly pointed teeth. People were mumbling and shouting, wondering what to do. Someone slapped her across the face. Maddie blinked, glaring straight in front of her. A little girl was being held up to the Wonderlander by a large, purple, hairy monster. The girl had dark eyes, black hair that she held in place with two short pigtails, and a scowl on her small face. She was oddly short, even for a little girl. She looked over her shoulder at everyone that had gathered (there were quite a few) and pointed a thumb at Maddie.

"Told you I could shut her up," she said. She looked at Ben, and even Maddie could see the proud gleam in her eyes.

"I bet you believe her now. Seriously, you can't play off this whole girl's situation as one giant coincidence. The hat, the language, the sword, I mean, come _on_ people!" the girl shouted in frustration. She snapped her fingers at the boy who was holding Maddie. The Wonderlander dropped to the ground, landing on her toes. She gazed at the girl curiously.

"Who're _you_, lass?" she asked, a bit suspiciously. The girl frowned.

"I'm the blue caterpillar," she snorted sarcastically. Maddie's eyes flashed with yellow for a second. She smirked.

"Tha's a good one, lass, but it's a lie. Now, ya real name…?" The girl hesitated. She nodded her head at the monster, which set her down. The strange, dark-haired girl looked up at Maddie.

"Call me Lalavava." Maddie closed her eyes for a beat. When she opened them, they were as green a spring grass. An electric shock crackled in her brain. White dots appeared in her vision again.

"…_We need the Uulize, Hattie. Can you do it?"_

"_O'course she can! She'll know who it is when she sees tha lass!"_

Hattie joined the world, coming out of the dark shadow that had clouded her mind for the entire battle. She beamed down at Lalavava.

"Wonderful."


	4. Chapter 4: What Does it Mean to Be Mad?

**Whazzup my peeps? This is Twisted, and it is my favorite, and I will be spending most of my time trying to complete this one. I would just like to point out two awesome people: _Deviantes_ and _CrimsonButterfly94_. Stick with me, girls, I'm fighting this story to get it down in ink.**

**

* * *

**_To save her own world_

_She fell up and flew down_

_To find the little girl_

_Born to take the Queen's crown_

"So let me get this straight. You're looking for this girl who has the ability to save all of Wonderland."

"Yes."

"All by herself."

"Yes."

"She's called the… Uh- Uh-leez… Uulize…?"

"Yes."

"The last Uulize was a little girl named Alice."

"Yes."

"Seriously? Alice in Wonderland?"

"Yes…?"

"Okay, whatever. That Alice was chased out of Wonderland by the Red Queen-"

"Bloody Red Queen."

"…Right… and since then the Queen has been gaining power and destroying Wonderland. You were sent to find the Uulize to save Wonderland while the remaining Wonderlanders hold the fort back home."

"Exactly."

"And you think the Uulize is… me?"

"I do indeed."

"Now, you're the Mad Hatter, right?"

"…According to… Lewis Carroll…"

"Right. You're completely insane-"

"Thank you."

"And you expect me to come back with you and use my, quote 'childish imagination', to basically kick the Queen's butt."

"Aptly put, little one."

"Don't call me that."

Hattie was walking alongside Lalavava through what remained of Tech Square.

The child threw question after question at the Wonderlander, but not once did she give the impression of disbelief. Hattie wholeheartedly believed that Lalavava was indeed the Uulize. True, she was not happy, perky, or blonde, but her imagination glowed from inside her, and she never doubted Hattie's story. Indeed, she seemed to embrace Hattie's insanity. The girl was very serious, and very abrasive, but Hattie felt it was all the fault of the Upperworld. Every generation the children were getting coarser, angrier, more violent, and more rebellious. Whatever happened to the innocence that Hattie had been expecting? Perhaps it was also the war that had tainted the childhoods of this generation. Lalavava smirked.

"I can't believe you thought _DeeDee_ was the Uulize," she scoffed. Hattie shook some green goo from her hat, wrinkling her nose.

"Can you blame me? She doesn't strike you as the perfect Alice?"

"More like the perfect airhead." Hattie's mouth dropped open. Oh, this Uulize was by far different than the original. She sniffed, replacing her hat.

"Hm. To business, my dear. Do you think you're up for it? The slaying and whatnot?" Hattie asked brightly. Lalavava crossed her arms over her black dress.

"The slaying sounds pretty good." Hattie clapped her hands excitedly.

"Oh, marvelous! Of course, no one expects you to understand everything so soon, love. Oh, but don't worry! I'm here to guide you along. It's what I came here to do, you know."

"I know. But I can't exactly go just yet." Hattie froze, missing a step. She skipped to regain her balance. She gripped the brim of her hat with one hand.

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Well, I _am_ only nine. Don't you think I should talk to my brother first?" Lalavava asked sarcastically. Hattie touched a finger to her chin.

"You have a brother?" she whispered, anxiety gripping her.

"Yup."

"Well… do you think he'll understand?" Lalavava chuckled grimly.

"Yeah, he'll be _all_ for this. Do you have a brother?" Hattie almost answered 'no'. Almost. It was at that exact moment that more flashes of white spotted her vision.

"_Come on… Don't be such a baby!"_

"_Mother says to wash before supper."_

"_No you can't. You're just a girl."_

"_Because I'm older, that's why."_

"…Ye…No, I don't think so…" Hattie whispered. She felt as if she had just told a lie, but she was certain she had spoken the truth. For the briefest second, the purple in her hair darkened, and her eyes became crystal blue. Her skin became a peachy color, and her teeth appeared to be quite rounded. She looked almost human. But, of course, she was not and shortly after she reverted back to her normal neon coloring. Lalavava sighed.

"Lucky. Do you think, if you had a brother, that he would let you run off with a madwoman to some supposedly fictional world to fight a psychopath using imagination?" Lalavava looked up at Hattie, who quirked an eyebrow. The younger girl blinked and shook her head.

"Okay, bad example," she said. Hattie held her hands in front of her, clasping her fingers, like a prayer.

"Well, we'll just have to speak to this brother of yours."

"I'm taking you to him."

"Ah. Should I try to be… erm… human?"

"Honestly, I don't think he'll care," Lalavava said with absolute certainty. Hattie hummed to herself. She felt a little dizzy after her battle. Well, she hadn't actually seen it. Maddie had, though. And she was getting the most terrified and awestruck looks from the few people wandering around.

"One, two, Worbole in my shoe. Three, four, Queen at the door. Five, six, beat her with sticks-"

"What are you singing?" Lalavava asked suddenly, sounding a tad annoyed.

"'Worbole'," Hattie answered simply. Lalavava shook her head.

"We have something similar here."

"Do you, now?"

"One, two, buckle my shoe-"

"That sounds completely ridiculous," Hattie giggled. Lalavava rolled her eyes.

* * *

"She is supposed to be _gone_, Ben…" Dexter growled at the older teen. Ben had no response. First, Hattie had somehow managed to escape from DexLabs, which was supposed to be impossible; second, she appeared on the battlefield and basically took down the whole Fusion wave on her own; third, she disappeared again, and no one saw her leave. He had to admit that Hattie was slowly proving herself to be not of this world. An alien, he doubted. But she was certainly… different. _Well,_ he thought humorlessly to himself,_ she's proven herself to be completely nuts._

More than one person had already gone to the infirmary, claiming that they were having hallucinations. Ben knew he had witnessed Hattie's alter-ego, Maddie, first-hand, and it didn't give him a good feeling. Maddie seemed like a mercenary, just another enemy, and Hattie wasn't much better. Mandark's little sister, Lalavava, had managed to calm the psycho down, and that in itself was creepy. Ben had to admit that everything Hattie did or said made perfect sense, if given a little thought. The hat, the mood swings, the old-timey dress, talking about Time, disappearing without a trace, and her weapon that she referred to as her "Vorpal Sword". Ben now recognized where the term came from, and it didn't hearten him.

"Billy and Flapjack said she's on some kind of mission. Looking for some girl. Happy, perky, blonde, young..." Ben ticked them off. Dexter stared at Ben for a moment.

"What?" the brunette asked. Dexter continued staring.

"Happy… perky… and blonde…" he repeated slowly. Ben sucked in a breath.

"Oh, crud."

* * *

DeeDee crossed her arms and looked away, twisting sideways in her chair. Imagine, seated in the very same room Hattie had been held in. The nerve of some people, to interrogate her about poor Hattie. DeeDee was quite certain she would throw a tantrum if her interrogators made any wild accusation.

"No," she said defiantly, as she had for the past ten minutes. Her younger brother pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"DeeDee, we need to better understand this… 'Hattie' character to prevent another loss of control like today," he explained for the umpteenth time. DeeDee narrowed her eyes at him.

"Oh, please, Dexter. You just want to find out who she is and then… I don't know… dump her in the forest somewhere!" she accused. Ben coughed uncomfortably.

"You were keeping her in that _cell _of yours! I know! She told me." Dexter stared at her.

"You talked to her?" DeeDee nodded.

"And you helped her leave?"

"_Escape_. And she did most of the work herself." Dexter paced thoughtfully.

"Yes, how did she do that, or did she not trust you enough to tell you?" Dexter prompted. DeeDee bristled.

"She trusts me! We're friends!" she insisted. Bingo.

"Really? Friends generally know more about each other than a name." Dexter knew he was prodding his sister, but if questioning her supposed friendship with the psychopath known as Hattie was the only way to get answers, he would do it. DeeDee hesitated, looking at the floor. Then she glared at him.

"Hattie _is_ the Mad Hatter." Dexter resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"She used some kind of shrinking thingamajig to crawl out from under the door, but she couldn't grow back just yet, not until she got her special poptarts, so I picked her up and carried her out while she told me about The Lion and Charles, and then she yelled at my book and spit on it, which wasn't very nice, but she was upset because the book was lying to her-"

"Okay! Okay, that's quite enough, DeeDee…" Dexter sighed, annoyed.

"What's in it for you? Why did you help her?" Ben asked.

"Hattie's going to take me to Wonderland with her. She says I'm special."

"Yes, you certainly are…" Dexter mumbled. He leaned toward his sister, looking her in the eye.

"DeeDee, you are aware that there is no such thing as Wonderland?" he asked carefully, worried the madwoman may have somehow brainwashed his sister. DeeDee grinned. It was an unnerving grin, and it was disturbingly similar to Hattie's.

"Hattie said you'd say that," she laughed.

"And why exactly are you special?" Ben asked, "Are you sure she wasn't just using you?" DeeDee snapped her head in his direction.

"She said I was the Uulize." This brought a few seconds of surprised silence.

"What, in Einstein's name, does that mean?" Dexter growled, fed up with the game. DeeDee twirled a pigtail innocently around her finger.

"The Uulize is a very special girl who can save Wonderland," she murmured reverently. Since Dexter was having a meltdown from the sheer nonsense coming from his sister, Ben asked yet another question:

"What's wrong with Wonderland?" DeeDee paused.

"I… I don't know. She never told me."

* * *

Flapjack shifted nervously in his chair, his blue-clad feet hovering an inch from the floor. He knew adventurers were not supposed to be afraid of anything, but… Dexter scared him. The younger boy had never seen the genius in person, but he had heard things, none of them very inspirational. His mind wandered, as little boys' minds tend to do, and he imagined a terrible beast of a man, with sharp claws and vicious teeth, beady red eyes, and a spiked tail, who spits fire and eats little boys.

Flapjack involuntarily squeaked when the door opened. Ben entered first, followed by DeeDee, and Flapjack visibly relaxed. They were friends, friends that were nice to him, and talked to him. He felt a bit more comfortable at the sight of the older teens. Then he felt another presence in the room. The golden-haired child froze and tried to see behind him without actually turning his head. It wasn't very effective. His thin fingers tightened on the edge of the chair and his heart-rate picked up as he imagined horrible claws and a snarling beast.

"Hello, Flapjack." Well, at least the monster could speak. Flapjack wasn't sure if this actually benefited him. After all, is it better to die or for someone to tell you they're going to kill you, and then die? A person strolled into view. He didn't seem too terrible, although he didn't seem very friendly either. He wasn't a monster, in fact he was a boy, but Flapjack was still unsure as to whether or not this fiery-headed boy actually _breathed_ fire.

"H- Hello…" Flapjack said meekly. DeeDee took pity on him, and elbowed the other, scary boy.

"Dexter, you're freaking him out!" she hissed. The other boy, whom Flapjack was now uncomfortably aware was Dexter, glared up at the girl, giving a look that clearly said "So?" Flapjack thought himself quite silly for thinking of a monster in place of this boy, only a few years older than him, it appeared.

"Do you know why you're here?" Dexter asked, fixing him in a dark blue gaze. Flapjack chanced a shake of the head. Dexter held his hands behind his back, pacing around the child.

"You are here because I have reason to believe you've been assisting… Hattie… in her search for a certain girl?" Flapjack blinked in comprehension.

"Is that true?" Flapjack nodded slightly. Was he in trouble for helping a friend? Dexter nodded, just once.

"But what I fail to understand is why this girl is so important…" Flapjack sat up straighter, eager to help.

"She's trying to save Wonderland!" he cried happily. Dexter looked at Ben, who nodded.

"We keep hearing that. What exactly is wrong with Wonderland?" Ben asked quietly, catching DeeDee's "told you so" look. Flapjack's robin-egg eyes clouded over with the beginnings of tears.

"Something bad…" he whispered. It was the child's tone that was possibly the most worrisome.

"Something about… erm…" Flapjack thought hard for a moment, " No decks of cards, or Queen of Hearts… um… she ranted, she raved, she couldn't be saved, so they took the poor lass and they locked her away…" he finished uncertainly. DeeDee looked at him carefully.

"Who is 'she'?" Flapjack looked around the room, suddenly feeling a weight on his mind, like a shadow.

"The Uulize," he told her simply, eyes boring through her. DeeDee stepped back as though stung, shaking her head slightly. _I'm the Uulize! What's going to happen to me? Will I end up like the first?_ she thought worriedly. Ben blanched at the words. Flapjack never talked like that. He sounded… crazy. The teenager shivered again. Dexter made a decision. He looked at his brunette friend.

"Find Hattie. Bring her here. Now. This madwoman has more than a few things to answer for."


	5. Chapter 5: Family Bonds

_Sometimes one is boringly sane_

_And perfectly reasonable_

_But when danger threatens all which one loves_

_One becomes less than agreeable_

Hattie found that she was rather fond of Lalavava's older brother's laboratory. Perhaps the instruments within it had sparked her interest, or the mysterious sounds that echoed throughout it. Perhaps it was the constant presence of red and black that bitterly reminded her of home. She briefly wondered if she would be forced into another dreadful waiting room, but Lalavava said nothing about it, and Hattie was certainly not going to leave the Uulize alone, anyway. Lalavava led Hattie deeper into the laboratory, and Hattie's eyes adjusted to the darkness. This place seemed an awful lot like how home was when she left. White pops of light exploded in front of her eyes, and Hattie slipped into another memory.

* * *

_Bleached white trees with the most beautiful electric blue Nanaloot blossoms decorate the outside of the Pearl Court, where the White Queen and King discuss the current events. Nothing much has happened. Hattie sits at the White King's side, Chessur on her right, in his humanoid form. He grins, sharp teeth gleaming white, as his pointed ears swivel at each cheerful laugh. His white shirt and black coat stand out from the slightly pale pink surroundings._

"_Waiter, there's a hair in my soup!" someone cries. Chessur stands, towering over Hattie, his tail swishing back and forth._

"_Is it blonde?" he cries back, his golden irises retracting, "We're missing a waitress!" This brings uproarious laughter from the guests. Tillytu, snoozing on a saucer, twitches his tail and sleepily rubs his eyes with tiny paws. He squeaks in frustration at Chessur, who grins apologetically at the dormouse._

"_Sleep, you lazy little whiskered fiend…" Chessur purrs teasingly. Tillytu's head makes a small clink as it connects with the porcelain saucer once more. Hattie beams at Wonderland's best offensive spy, the little gray dormouse, sleeping yet again. Chessur sits, brushing his black hair back from his face with one pale blue hand. The White Queen stands and holds two gloved hands up for attention. The Court is silent. It always was, for the White Queen never spoke unless she had something to say, which wasn't very often, considering Wonderland had been in the longest stretch of boredom in years._

"_Today," she begins, her voice like bells, "We honor those that have kept Wonderland in balance since the banishment of the Twisted One…" This brings several solemn nods and regretful shakes of the heads, but all is still silent. Hattie frowns at Charles's memory, making a sour face. The White Queen motions for Chessur to stand, and the boy does so, his grin stretching to his pointed ears. She hands him a vial of green liquid, instructing him to drink. He does so without hesitation._

"_From now on, you, Chessur, the Cat of Two Forms, will be uncommonly lucky, and will forever succeed at any mission you have, as long as you serve Wonderland. Do you accept the blessing?" the White Queen asks, the pearl crown on her head glowing with pride._

"_Yes, your majesty, but, if I may, what is it within me that possess my luck?" Chessur purred. The White Queen smiles mischievously._

"_Your teeth, you cheeky little feline." Again the court chuckles, and Chessur's grin is slightly disrupted as he laughs, plopping down in his chair with his gales. The King stands now, wiping a tear away from his wrinkled face._

"_Greetings, my kinsmen, fellow Wonderlanders!" The White King says grandly, spreading his great arms wide, "Today, we honor the Mad to forget the Bad and the Sad. Today, we honor a girl who is far too Mad for anyone's good but her own!" More chuckles. The King beams down at Hattie, who stands._

"_You, my most faithful servant, deserve something for your hard work through the ages!" the King declares. Hattie removes her hat and bows. The King uses this opportunity to slip a silver chain around the girl's neck. Hattie straightens, and the King looks at her, seriousness etched in his features._

"_This whistle, my dear, will assist you in your darkest hour. Use it only once, for after that, it shall break like flubwar worm glass." The King bends down to her level, eye to eye with the girl._

"_Only. Once," he murmurs. Hattie nods solemnly. The White King grins and looks up, glancing around the courtroom._

"_If Mithum would ever get his crooked cotton tail to this courtroom, perhaps he would receive his gift!" More gales, Chessur glances at Hattie, who shrugs. They sit, Hatter and King, and the feast continues._

_

* * *

_

"Hattie. Hattie!" someone cries. Hattie stops her robotic walking as the black and red swim around in her head again. Wait, no, her vision. Her memory came flooding back to her as Lalavava dragged her back from a sharp-looking machine by her waistcoat.

"What's the matter with you?" the girl snapped. Hattie shook her head, staring around her.

"…I'm… fine…" she mumbled. Lalavava didn't look convinced. She seemed rather irritated with Hattie, and Hattie couldn't blame her. She would have to more careful with those wretched Madness-induced memories. Lalavava's gray eyes were narrowed, staring hard at the taller girl.

"What were you thinking about?" she asked. Hattie twisted her hat's scarf around one finger, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"…Memories. Of Wonderland, before… Before."

"Before what?"

"Before we needed you." Hattie's eyes darkened and she sucked in a breath to force the Madness back.

"Huh. Try to keep that under control when you meet my brother," the younger girl advised, turning around. Hattie followed, the voices in her head growing louder. Hattie tried to stop them. She really did. But a Madwoman can only run from her ghosts for so long. And Hattie had been running an awfully long time.

* * *

_Mithum stumbles into the Pearl Court, a drunken happy smile on his whiskered face, his floppy ears curled._

"_Ya dinnah forget abou' meh, now, did ya?" he hiccups. Hattie shakes her head, slightly miffed that he would be drunk off of tea yet again. The March Hare shakes his head rapidly as he hops to his seat at the table. The White Queen rolls her pale pink eyes and reaches for a pillow held by a fish butler. But there is nothing there. The queen looks at her husband, thinking he may have taken the reward to give to the Hare. Hattie looks to her right and instantly knows who has taken the medal meant for the weapons master. A gray cat hovers over the Hare, grinning sneakily. He unceremoniously drops the medal onto Mithum's head, where it bounces and rolls away. Mithum leaps to snatch the Cat from the air, only to grab a pawful of golden smoke. Defeated, the Hare sits in his chair, grumbling, as Chessur reappears next to Hattie, who scratches him behind the ears._

"_You irk him, Chessur. Couldn't you behave like a sophisticated feline today?" Hattie asks. The Cat grins at her, paws folded in front of him, and tail twitching happily._

"_You are one to talk, my dear. Who was it that put Fluceldorf Jam in his tea?" Hattie giggles, flushing purple. The sun sparkles happily through the clear sectioned windows. The guests are content and lively. Mithum's sour mood is gone, replaced with an obsession of cherry tarts. The King and Queen look around at their court, smiling and laughing._

_A sour wind brushes Hattie's scarf away to the opposite side of her hat._

_Chessur's fur ripples in the wind and the temperature drops tremendously._

_The guests' chattering mouths die down to be replaced by chattering teeth._

_An inky shadow falls upon the Pearl Court, so that only Chessur's golden eyes could be seen in the gloom._

_There is silence._

_Horrible, awful, silence._

_Maddening._

_There always was before a disaster._

_The Court's white opaque doors shatter into millions of tiny pieces, showering the patrons. A sickening yellow light floods the banquet hall, and Hattie sees that Chessur has reverted to humanoid form, glaring out the door, claws tapping lightly on the long glass table. Chessur's ears suddenly flatten and he lets out a low hiss. Many Wonderlanders on the far end of the table stand and attempt to see out the doorway. The King pushes himself up from the table._

"_What is the meaning of this intrusion, Stranger? Away with you, before you break something else of the royal family's!" he commanded, deep voice echoing around the silent room. The yellow light fades to a soft orange, which grows steadily darker._

_Darker._

_Darker._

_Until it became red._

_A horrible, cold, blood-colored light that chills the bones of the Hatter, witnessing with watchful eyes._

"**I am the royal family…"**

_someone growls from beyond the red light. It sounded animalistic, deep and layered, with an echoing tone that suggested something decidedly horrid._

_The White Queen squeaks as her husband turns purple with rage. A figure fills the doorway, casting a long, black shadow across the pearlescent floor. She was tall, her dress made entirely of what appeared to be… flesh. Ruffles, corset, underskirts, sleeves, made of all shades of skin and fur, sewn together to make a macabre outfit. A crown of rose thorns wraps around her gray hair, so tangled together, it appeared that the thorns were sprouting from her head. Her black, soulless eyes, without pupils or whites, stare emptily around her, burning with a cold fire. In her pale, thin hand, she holds a scepter, the end of which is an axe, the blade shaped into a heart. Behind her, soldiers line up, armed to the teeth with horrible weaponry, none of which Mithum recognizes._

_Maddie draws her blade, her eyes already as deep and red as the blinding light surrounding the Bloody Red Queen. Chessur lets loose a horrible hiss, ears flattened to his head, and his claws gouge the thick glass table, causing an ear-bleeding, nails-on-chalkboard noise to come from the piece of furniture. Mithum pulls an assortment of God-knows-what out of his coat, loading this or pressing that. Tillytu takes this moment to wake. He takes one look at the Queen, turns tail, and runs. Tillytu was a spy. Direct confrontation was not the dormouse's forte. The Lords and Ladies of the Pearl Court scream and begin running._

_A horrible mistake._

_The cruel, cold accuracy of the Bloody Red Queen's axe is the stuff of legend. Her speed is unrivaled. Her reflexes remarkable. In less than twenty seconds, all thirty members of the court lay dead, dismembered, disemboweled, decapitated... Awful. Maddie never flinches. The White King and Queen begin backing away at Chessur's nod. The Bloody Red Queen smirks. That smirk grows into a smile, a grin, and it keeps growing until the Queen's face is nearly halved by her cavernous mouth, filled with teeth. A hideous roar shatters the windows of the Court. The soldiers charge. In a flash, Chessur is The Cat, evaporating and reappearing everywhere. His claws rip armor from person, skin from bone, scraping the very marrow. Maddie leaps onto the table, charging on her toes. Mithum throws an assortment of explosives at the soldiers, rendering them a little more than pulp and black bits of metal. Maddie ignores arrows, spears, swords, knives. All of it. She was going after the Queen. However, the Queen was not interested in the Mad Hatter. Rather, she hunts down the two remaining members of the Court. Maddie is so Maddened that she sees only the red of the Bloody Red Queen's axe. Everything else is blocked from her. She couldn't see herself blocking a blow here, a jab here. She couldn't see explosives shower around the Queen. She couldn't see fire, smell smoke, or feel gashes in her own skin._

_With all of Maddie's speed and skill, her Maddened determination, she was still too slow. The Bloody Red Queen's scepter hacks the White Queen through the middle. Maddie smells the fresh blood. She doesn't know who's it is, or where it comes from. She sees the axe gleam an evil red color. She feels herself slip and nearly lose her balance in a puddle of something. She ignores it. _

_Kill the Bloody Red Queen._

_Kill the Bloody Red Queen._

_There is a horrid sense of foreboding, and then Maddie hears it. The sound of metal through bone. She smells more blood. Hears the Bloody Red Queen's hideous cackle. She feels the earth shake. Ruin. This part of Wonderland was crumbling. There was no one to lead it. Maddie was shocked out of her Madness violently with a huge tremor._

_Chessur slashes a soldier in the face, then pauses, hovering in the air. The Red Soldiers freeze, standing straight, as the Bloody Red Queen continues laughing. Chessur fades, leaving a golden mist. Mithum dashes out of shattered window. Maddie..._

_Maddie just stands there. Actually, _Hattie_ just stands there, her eyes wide and pink as the earth shakes violently. The Queen cackles, rubble falling around her. Hattie wheels on the murderer._

_"You will pay for this!" she shouts, not knowing what else to do. The Queen grins at the girl, pointed teeth gleaming at her._

**"Wonderland will fall. An idiot girl, a housecat, and an over-sized rat will hardly stop me, you poor, pathetic child. Blood will spill, heads will roll. There will be more to come, rest assured."**

_Hattie blanches, face yellow, eyes shadowed, and then runs out the door._

_

* * *

_

"Hattie! Pay attention! What's WITH you?" Lalavava shouted through Hattie's Madness.

"_-" _

"Knock it off!" Lalavava shook the Wonderlander violently, just a little concerned. Just a little. Hattie's eyes regained their focus and dimmed to a very dark green.

"…I… am sorry. I can't help it, it's… it's because…"

"You're mad," the younger girl finished. Hattie winced.

"Meh. Aren't we all?" Lalavava shrugged, "But seriously, you need to be a little less psycho around my brother. He kinda spazzes whenever he can't understand something."

"'Spazzes'?" Hattie asked, unfamiliar with the term.

"Y'know. Freaks out. Flips his lid."

"Oh. You're brother sounds-"

"Like an impatient, overbearing, arrogant jerk?" Hattie blinked.

"Well, I've never met him, so I can't really judge-"

"But I'm his sister. I should know. Oh man, I can't wait to see his face." The barest hint of a smile flashed on the human's features.

"See his face when what happens?" Hattie inquired. Lalavava looked up at her.

"When he sees that I let someone into his Dork-Cave," she replied simply.

"Dork?"

"Loser."

"That's a nice way to talk about your flesh and blood, Olga," someone growled from the shadows. Lalavava frowned heavily.

"Flesh and blood? I blame that on our genetic donors. And my name is Lalavava!" she snapped. Hattie glanced between the shadows and the Uulize. _Who is Olga? Lalavava? Poor dear, _Hattie thought. The Uulize, trapped with such a… _human_ name! Hattie leaned over at a ridiculous angle to whisper to Lalavava.

"Is that your brother?"

"Unfortunately…" the Uulize muttered, rolling her eyes. Hattie straightened and squinted into the gloom. At first, she could see nothing, but as her eyes adjusted, she could clearly see the tall form of… something.

"Is it a bat of some sort?" she wondered aloud.

"A bat?" the figure said angrily. _What a nasally voice…_ Hattie thought to herself. Hattie could not be blamed for her mistake. As Lalavava's brother emerged from the shadows, Hattie could see that he didn't have wings, but a (rather garish) cape. The gleam from his glasses prevented Hattie from seeing his eyes, but she could tell he wasn't happy. She doubted he ever really was.

"What is that?" the stranger demanded, motioning to Hattie. The Wonderlander huffed and crossed her arms. _Humans_, she thought bitterly.

"It's a 'she', doofus," Lalavava growled back at him.

"Why is it here?" her brother continued, ignoring his sister.

"_She's _here because I brought her here, Susan." Hattie didn't laugh. This was too serious a situation to laugh at someone, especially since she was trying to appeal to this person to allow the Uulize to return to Wonderland with her. Her brother shook with anger.

"My name is _Mandark!_" he barked. Lalavava rolled her eyes.

"Well, you see," Hattie said, interrupting the argument, "Your sister is vitally important to the welfare of my homeland. However, seeing as she is so young, getting permission from her older brother seemed imperative."

"Look, we just came by to tell you I'm leaving, so… later," Lalavava said dully, already beginning to walk away.

"Now wait a minute! Your 'homeland'? What do I care about your homeland? And why do you need Olga?" Hattie was more than a little angered by his tone and attitude, and her steadily creeping Madness enabled her to speak first and think later. Lalavava turned around and marched back to her brother. She yanked him down to her height by his shirt collar.

"You. Are. Embarrassing me!" she hissed at him. The boy glared at her.

"You have brought a stranger into my inner sanctum!" he snapped.

"Don't call me Olga! My name is Lalavava!"

"My name is Mandark!" the boy repeated.

"My name is Hattie," the Wonderlander put in brightly. Mandark's eyes flashed towards her.

"Why are you here?" he demanded again.

"Your sister led me here," Hattie answered simply. The boy shot a glare at his sibling before returning his attention to Hattie.

"What do you want?"

"I have come to tell you that your sister will be accompanying me to my homeland to save my world from a psychotic mass murderer." There were several seconds of awkward silence. Lalavava face-palmed herself, shaking her head.

"Why… why are you so… naïve?" she sighed. Hattie looked at her.

"Whatever do you mean?" she asked.

""Don't tell him about the mass murderer part!" Lalavava said.

"Oh," was all Hattie had to say. She saw no reason to lie to Mandark, or to avoid the truth in any way. This was a serious situation, and Hattie would feel just awful if he found out what was going on after they had left.

"A psychotic what?" the boy demanded. His sister crossed her arms.

"You heard her. Look, we just dropped by to give you a heads-up. Later," she said blandly. She made a move to walk away. Her brother snatched her arm and wheeled her around. She responded by punching him on the arm, quite hard for a girl her size.

"Ow! You are not going anywhere!" Mandark growled. Lalavava squinted at him.

"You can't tell me what to do, Susan!"

"I'm your older brother!"

"And Lalavava is the Uulize," Hattie interjected calmly. Lalavava, with her one free hand, face-palmed herself again, her black pigtails waving as she shook her head vigorously.

"What is she talking about? Olga, what's an Uulize?" Mandark asked, not exactly politely. Hattie clapped her hands lightly.

"Congratulations on correct pronunciation!" the Wonderlander tittered. Mandark ignored her.

"It's just something important, okay? No big deal," Lalavava muttered.

"If it's no big deal, than why do you avoid the question?"

"I'm not avoiding any question!"

"You are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Not!"

"_Enough!" _Hattie shouted, her voice already deepening as Maddie pushed her way to the surface.

"Weth or withou' yer permission, lad, the Ohlayz _will _be joinin' meh on meh way ta Wunderlan'," Maddie growled. Mandark just looked at her. Then he started to laugh. It was incredibly irritating. Maddie pulled the brim of her hat down over her eyes, muttering.

"Laugh all ya like, lad. Jus' like a human, ta laugh at tha impossible, even when it's starin' ya in tha face…"

"Oh, don't tell me! I'll bet that you plan on taking my sister down a rabbit hole?" Mandark sniggered. Maddie frowned.

"Or… or maybe through a looking glass?" he laughed harder. Maddie's head shot up and she glared at him with dark red eyes. Lalavava /poked her brother repeatedly to get his attention.

"Susan." He ignored her.

"Maybe after that you'll have a tea party with her? With the March Hare, and the dormouse, and that cat?"

"Susan…" Lalavava warned. Maddie stood rigid in front of the boy, who was laughing loudly.

"No! Maybe then you'll paint the roses red? Ha-" Maddie, in the blink of an eye, had closed the distance between them and gripped his neck tightly in one pale hand. Her frame shook as Hattie fought Maddie for dominance.

"Ya never mention the Bluddy Red Queen's roses in meh presence!" she barked. She lifted Mandark off the floor. Lalavava stood back.

"Hattie?"

"There never was a rabbit hole," Maddie hissed in Hattie's voice, "There never was a portal through a mirror." She squeezed tighter.

"I haven't had a tea party since the rise of the Queen. Mithum never dined with Chessur, Tillytu, and me. He was too busy making weapons to fight off the Queen. In fact, Tillytu was often gone, spying on her soldiers. Chessur was constantly going off to take down legions of her Red Soldiers…" Maddie brought him down to her eye level. Her eyes had hellfire in them, and her teeth were sharpened. Her face was yellowed with a past no one had seen but her.

"_Ah hev come 'ere to bring tha Ohlayz beck ta Wunderlan' ta end tha Bluddy Red Queen's reign, an' Ah'll do it weth or wethou' yer persmission." _Maddie dropped the gasping human to the floor. After a moment, he stood shakily. There was a certain gleam in his eye.

"The only way… Olga can join you… is if I can go… as well…" he wheezed. Maddie squinted.

""Why would ya care abou' Wunderlan' if it doesn't exist?" she challenged.

"I'm not… going to let… my little sister… run off with… a madwoman!" Maddie remained still, thinking. After a bit, she nodded slightly.

"Ah can respect tha'. So you'll be joinin' us?"

"Not until the war here… is won. The world needs… my intelligence. Dexdork can't do it… by himself!" Maddie twitched. Dork. Loser. He just called Dexter a loser. In the dark corner of Maddie's mind, Hattie stomped her foot indignantly, cursing in Wonderlandish.

"Fine. Until this war is over, tha lass will stay here. Ah will help anyway Ah can. We cannah wait too long, ya know," Maddie said quietly. She looked over at Lalavava, watching carefully.

"You'll find me near the Twisted Forest. Or DexLabs, depending," she said in Hattie's voice.

"Depending on what?" the human girl asked.

"Depending on how much trouble I'm in." The Hatter wheeled around and walked away. Lalavava waited a bit, and then jumped at her brother.

"Boo!" she yelled. Mandark jumped, then frowned at her angrily.

"Get out of here!" he shouted. Lalavava grinned at him. Though he hated to acknowledge it, Mandark had to fight to keep the chills from shooting up his spine.


	6. Chapter 6: Flip Side

_Look in the Mirror_

_And what do you see?_

_The Bad you_

_The Mad you_

_Who you might truly be_

Hattie wasn't exactly treated as a lady should be on her way back to DexLabs. It was more of a prisoner transfer than a "requested" audience with the hatter. Hattie's elbows were currently possessed by two rather rough-looking older boys, neither of which had a neighborly expression on their faces. Hattie was not worried. She let herself be carried, dragged, and pulled, a white grin on her face. It was actually quite dark now, and the artificial lighting from the remains of Tech Square blinded her. She squinted against the harsh colors, tutting and feeling very sorry for these technologically dependent Upperworlders. _Even though,_ she mused, _I'm being led to the single most narrow-minded Upperworlder I've met, and he seems a tad… obsessive. Oh, those silly little machines and metal people..._ Hattie giggled. Her "traveling companions" exchanged sharp looks and tugged harder, nearly flinging Hattie to the ground. Hattie stopped giggling and clenched her jaw.

"_Shukrn jugglin' guddler's scut…" _she hissed between her sharpening teeth. One of the boys, adorned in garish red and black "armor" shot a look to his partner, who shrugged. The boy in red shook Hattie's arm.

"Whadja call me, squirt?" he asked. Hattie stared hard at the ground and mumbled something. It didn't sound… pleasant. The red boy shook her again.

"'Ey! I'm talkin' to you, Raisin Head! T-Bone, you hear her?" The other, a boy of blue and green, waved a hand nonchalantly.

"I ain't heard nothin'," he said, dismissing his friend's accusations.

"She's insultin' me! I think…" The blue boy, "T-Bone", paused in the middle of the street, directly in front of DexLabs, in all its angular splendor. Hattie grimaced at it.

"Ya _think_? Look, Big T, you ain't ever been the smart twin, a'ight? Now I ain't heard nothin', so neither did you, got that?" T-Bone said, rather bossily. Big T puffed out his chest.

"'Ey, I'm plenty smart! And I'm tellin' you this chick is makin' funna me!"

"I say it's all in your head."

"I say it ain't."

"You're crazy, bro."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am NOT!"

"Are TOO!"

Hattie gasped as everything went blindingly bright and she heard more echoes of her past.

"_I think we should regroup and gather strength…" said one. _

"_Contrariwise I say we should attack while they're on the run!" argued another._

"_But they ain't on the run!" countered the first._

"_They will be if we go after 'em!"_

"_But we ain't going after 'em 'cause they ain't on the run!"_

"_We could if they were!"_

"_They ain't 'cause we're not!"_

Hattie was slammed back into the present, the force of the mental impact stunning her and making her head swim. Through her fog, she could faintly hear T-Bone and Big T arguing.

"You're dumb!"

"You're about as dumb as DeeDee!"

"'Ey, that was a low blow!"

"You're right; I'll go apologize to her later, doofus!" _T…_ Hattie thought numbly.

_T… T-Bone… Big T… twin… T for twin… Dumb… DeeDee… DeeDee and dumb… T…_

_T-Dumb… T-DeeDee…_

_T-Dum… T-Dee…_

_Tweedledum._

_Tweedledee._

Hattie nearly addressed the boys as such, but they were far too busy shoving her in the building and dragging her towards the elevator.

"We'll settle this later, outside, so I can kick the _TATER _out of your _TOT_!" Big T growled, practically punching a button on the elevator wall.

"You're still mad 'cause I broke your stupid skateboard, ain'tcha?" T-Bone accused.

"I toldja you weren't allowed to borrow it!"

The bickering continued for five stories. Down, that is. Hattie's ears popped, and the brothers' fight behind her was even more tuned out. Hattie struggled to get a grip on reality. These Upperworlders weren't Tweedles Dee and Dum. They were…_ human_, for goodness sakes! Perhaps it was just another trick of her Madness. Or maybe… these Upperworlders were a bit madder than they realized? Was it possible? Even more remarkable: were the others the same? Hattie suddenly got a marvelous idea.

"I must go to the powder room, immediately," she said loudly, face scrunched as though in distress. T-Bone looked down at her, face red with anger.

"Do what?" he asked, the term sailing over his shaven head.

"The powder room. Where ladies go to take care of… things…?" Hattie hinted. Big T got a "light bulb" expression on his face, and whispered something in his brother's ear. T-Bone rolled his eyes.

"You take her," he ordered.

"You take her!" his brother countered.

"I can go by myself, I promise," Hattie nearly snarled, rolling her neon eyes. T-Bone shoved her toward a chrome door as though she had the plague and he might catch it. Hattie stumbled through the door clumsily and rubbed her sore arms. She glanced about the sterile white room, gaze flicking along the walls. Then she saw it. A mirror. A looking glass. She curled her slim fingers around the frame and pulled. It wouldn't budge, not that Hattie was surprised. She examined the sides to find that the mirror was screwed into the wall, very neatly, she noticed. She plucked a large, decorative hatpin from her hat and twisted the screws out, quickly and efficiently. As the large mirror leaned forward dangerously, Hattie jammed the hatpin back into its proper place and caught the mirror heavily in two hands.

"Ugh!" she grunted with the weight, her feet struggling to find traction on the tile floor. She hauled herself out of the restroom and glanced to the side at Big T.

"You know how girls are. We cannot stand to be away from a mirror for too long." Big T and his brother looked at her, then at each other, and then back at her.

"Meh," Big T shrugged and pushed Hattie further down the hall.

"What is she doing?"

"Carrying a mirror, what does it look like?"

"Well, what for?"

"Who knows?"

"Girl's crazy."

The loud jumble echoing in the air suggested that there were many more people in the room than Hattie had seen, although she supposed that this wasn't her first cell. No, that long table had definitely not been there, nor had one wall been made of dozens of giant glass panes. The fact that this room was similar in size to the White King and Queen's banquet hall convinced her fully that she was decidedly _not_ in some sort of cell, or even an "interview room" of any kind. It appeared to be some kind of meeting room, and Hattie was quite certain that they were meeting to discuss her, and what needed to be done about her. The room fell silent as Hattie stumbled forward, the weight of the mirror nearly popping her elbows from their sockets. She set it down loudly on the metal table, bringing forth an irritating _clang. _She wiped her sweaty hands on her dress and looked brightly about her, picking out faces here and there.

DeeDee and Ben were seated at the far end of the table on opposite sides, Ben with a look of confusion, DeeDee with a look of guilt. Flapjack and Billy were positioned along the wall to Hattie's left. Billy waved, but Flapjack just looked forlornly at his shoes, face reddening. Dexter was, of course, at the head of the table, and Hattie could feel his eyes on her. She barely spared the boy a glance. She knew he was angry, suspicious. _When is he not grouchy?_ Hattie thought indifferently as she looked quickly at everyone else. There was a girl standing in the back of the room, her arms crossed over her pink dress. Hattie felt an unimaginable cold aura emanating from the girl, and thought her blonde hair looked very much like devil horns, sticking up from her head and curling in. There seemed to be a small boy seated near a group of the strangest creatures Hattie had seen in the Upperworld. A tall, red, lanky being with one arm and a crooked eye; a bird of some sort with a tree as a face, and some sort of flying machine as a body; a blue, blob-shaped thing glaring at her from behind the same purple creature that had assisted Lalavava in slapping some sense into Hattie after the battle for Tech Square.

Hattie didn't have to look to know that the Uulize was nowhere in the vicinity. The room was cold and lifeless. There was no Wonderlandian charm or spark to it in her absence. Not even a hint of her older brother, Mandark. _Uninvited?_ Hattie thought, slightly miffed, _Outcasts, the Uulize and her sibling. How terribly unfortunate. _A whole host of others crowded the room, and it was completely silent. Hattie beamed that smile that was quickly becoming infamous amongst the ranks. She held up one finger to Dexter across the table, motioning for him to wait, though he hadn't made a move to speak.

"Now now, allow me to explain. I don't go about defacing property without proper cause. I have had an epiphany. I have an idea, a delightfully, deliciously, dauntingly, _marvelous _idea. A theory about your world. An educated guess. A hypothesis, if you will, and with every hypothesis, there must be an experiment, correct?" Hattie's eyes flashed with a challenge at everyone in the room.

"So what's the mirror for?" the blue, blob-like creature asked, eyes narrowed at her. Hattie cracked her knuckles and shook her wrists. She braced her feet, grabbed the edge of the mirror, and pushed with all she was worth. As the mirror sped past the people seated, Hattie began talking again.

"I'm ever so glad you asked. It's a wonderful thing, the making of mirrors. Of course, it's only polished glass, but so is a looking glass and the two things are as different as red and green." The large pane of glass slid the entire length of the table and stopped in front of the simmering redhead at the end. He didn't look at it.

"A looking glass is the _same thing_ as a mirror," he growled. Hattie tutted.

"No, no, no, that is not the case. You see, a mirror is, well, just a mirror, used for checking your reflection-"

"So is a looking glass!" someone shouted from the back. Hattie closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

"If there's goin' ta be anymore interruptions, Ah may hafta throw a tantrum…" she growled. She rapped on the table with her knuckles, demanding absolute attention.

"A lookin' glass is made for the sole purpose o' seein' your _othah_ half o' your soul," the hatter explained, motioning down the table.

"Ah thought o' this idea after being dragged in here by those two prison guards that were sent after me," Maddie sneered, her voice getting higher as the angry tinge faded from her slightly orange eyes, "And I discovered that they reminded me of some very funny boys I know. Tweedledee and Tweedledum-"

"Oh my God…" the blonde-haired girl muttered, rolling her eyes. She turned around, completely ignoring Hattie's insanity. In turn, Hattie ignored her.

"- and this could only be possible if my original assumption was incorrect. This world _isn't _as creatively dead as I first thought, which means that your world_ does_ maintain a little Madness, which means that there is another side to each and every one of you." She flicked her green gaze back to the blue creature.

"The mirror is to prove my theory, and show you that no one is above the influence of Madness. No one." The words hung like ice in the air. It felt as if the balance that every human is born knowing was suddenly at risk, in danger of capsizing that ignorant little boat floating in a sea of rules and physics.

"I don't believe it," Ben said, crossing his arms. Hattie mimicked his posture.

"Did you look?" she challenged.

"No, but-"

"Then your argument is invalid, Ben."

"Hattie, this is ridiculous! I won't look just because you tell me that there's an alternate universe through a bathroom mirror!"

"I won't look because she's insane…" Dexter muttered. DeeDee looked between her friend, her brother, and Hattie. Then she shook her head.

"I won't look because… it's too silly to be true. Not everything can be wrong in the book…" she whispered quietly. Hattie frowned heavily. She leapt onto the table like a cat, her black polished shoes making a loud _thud-thud-thud_ as she stomped towards the looking glass. She pointed at it, glaring at Ben.

"You won't look because you think I'm too crazy to know what I'm talking about!" she snapped. She turned to DeeDee, her eyes a little sad.

"You won't look because you believe a _storybook_." Then she twisted her head in Dexter's direction. She stepped onto the glass, glaring down at him, her hat shading her eyes.

"You won't look…" she snarled," because you're afraid o' what ya might find when ya do." Dexter met her glare.

"You're wrong."

"An' you're a coward," Hattie hissed. She turned on her heel and strolled in down it, her hands behind her back.

"Whether ya look or not, your othah half'll always be there, an' ev'ry time ya feel like you're losin' control, like you're losin; your mind, you will realize that Ah was right." Silence. Hattie reached the end of the table. She wheeled and stared at every individual person.

"…An' when ya do, ask yourself… do ya know why a raven is like a writin' desk?" Hattie jumped off of the table and out the door. No one made a move to stop her. DeeDee stared guiltily at the mirror…er, looking glass. Then she gingerly leaned forward, till she could see her entire face reflected. Her blond pigtails trailed against the cold glass. She couldn't see any difference. She was grinning. DeeDee narrowed her eyes, confusion etched in her features. She wasn't really grinning. So why was her reflection? She took a closer look. She watched as her eyes grew darker and darker, till her blue eyes became black. Unnaturally black. Her hair grew wild and tangled, turning brittle and pale. Thorns sprouted from her head and formed a circle. A crown of sorts. Her grin grew to a gaping maw filled with teeth, grinning madly, screaming silently as the thorns kept growing, smothering the horrible reflection. The blood flowed black from the tangle of leaves and a single rose sprouted from the top, red as Hell. DeeDee shrieked and fell back. Dexter rushed to his sister's side and pulled her up.

"What happened?" he asked. DeeDee pushed him away from her.

"The looking glass… The looking glass… you should have looked! No, don't look!"

"DeeDee! What are you talking about! Snap out of it!" Dexter shouted, shaking her. DeeDee pushed him away again and ran out, tears streaming down her face. Everyone looked at Dexter, but no one spoke. Dexter peeked at the mirror himself. He refused to say he was scared, just… cautious. He saw nothing. Nothing but a headless version of himself. He leapt back, swallowing a gasp of surprise. He regained his stony composure, turning to a guard.

"Smash it." He ordered.

"Sir, it's just-"

"_Smash it!"_ he shouted, grabbing the boy by the collar of his uniform, "Smash it, and for God's sake, man, don't look at it."\

…..

_**Phew! That was creepy! Sorry it took so long! I'm in love with Deviant art, and was distracted by the coolness! I know this chapter's short, but the next WILL NOT BE! **_


	7. Chapter 7: SideAffects May Include

**Side-Effects May Include**

_Slip into my dreamland_

_A wonderful place to lie_

_You can stay for all eternity_

_Because it's likely you will die_

DeeDee cowered in her room, finding little comfort in her pink blankets or over-stuffed dolls from her childhood. The plastic, marble-hard eyes shined and gleamed happily at her in the moonlight. Happily, but... emptily. Husks, that's what they were. Nothing but empty sockets. She was reminded of that horrible reflection for the umpteenth time that night. God, how would she ever forget the thorns? The black, sickly blood? The dark, soulless eye sockets? That grin...

_Oh, God, that grin._

She shivered, her arms wrapped around her, offering little warmth and less protection. She wanted to turn on the light, but for the first time since she was a little girl, she was terrified of monsters under the bed. There was a part of her brain that weakly chastised her childish, irrational fears. That tiny, frail voice was squashed with a hideous, high-pitched scream. DeeDee covered her ears, rocking back and forth. The screaming continued, echoing around her skull. She was forced to listen as the keening cry petered out in a disgusting, wet gurgle. Somewhere, in her mind's eye, she could see a splash of red, and hear a cackle so dark, so malicious, her skin crawled and she trembled uncontrollably. The laugh grew in volume. DeeDee weakly opened her eyes, begging to see moonlight. Anything, _anything_ but red. The laughter seemed to shake the bed and chill the room. DeeDee's heart hammered in her chest. She felt something over her. A shadow. DeeDee felt like her sanity was being pulled from her like a rubber band. Soon, she felt she would snap. Oh, God, just please stop that laugh! She begged in her head. With the barest scrap of energy that fear had not stolen, she leapt from her bed and sprinted out the room, screaming. She felt the shadow follow her, and the laughter didn't stop. No. She felt it would never stop. Never. Tears ran down her face as she stumbled blindly from her room. She didn't dare look in any mirrors. Not even picture frames, out of fear that her younger face would be deformed, hideously altered to fit that cold presence. At the foot of the stairs the girl suddenly froze. The world spun, alternating red and black. She felt like she would freeze to death then and there. The laugh abruptly cut off. DeeDee hit the floor, unconscious. Behind her, a pearl white grin faded to red, then disappeared completely.

…

Dexter sat up, gasping for air, drenched in sweat. He didn't sleep often, and when he did he slept very heavily. Dreams were highly uncommon. He couldn't even recall his last one. But nightmares... he had forgotten just how terrible they were. He forced his breathing to slow and brushed the hair back from his brow. He checked the clock on the side table. 1:23 AM. What an odd time to awake from a nightmare. He realized he had barely been asleep for half an hour. Nightmares don't usually strike that fast, right? It must have been something he ate, or this whole blasted Hattie incident. That was it. That damned mirror of hers. He shuddered unwillingly. He could still see fresh blood oozing from the stump of his neck, soaking into his white lab coat. His heart rate picked up again. The curtains of his room were closed, and only a sliver of moonlight managed to get into the room. The pale line slithered along the floor and shot up the length of the wall. Dexter blinked, almost sure that the line had moved, as if something had brushed the curtains. He swallowed. _Don't be an idiot_, he told himself. _Ghost stories are for children_. He lay back down, unable to close his eyes as his nightmare wormed its way back into his brain.

_It was a giant, thumping heart on an operating table. He didn't know why it was there, or why he felt the insane desire to operate immediately. But there were no surgical tools to be found. He only had a small hunk of rock, a gardening tool, and a crude, thick branch from a tree. Upon closer inspection, the rock turned out to be a diamond, still in its uncut state. The gardening tool was a common spade, and the branch seemed oddly perfect to club someone over the head. A giant clock ticked ominously overhead, the glowing red numbers humming. He watched the clock for some time, but it never changed. The clock appeared to be frozen. All of a sudden, he felt very remorseful. Time, it seemed, had died. In his dreaming state of mind, it suddenly occurred to him that perhaps he was to operate on this heart because it was Time's heart. He would save Time's life! With a newfound purpose, he set to work, the odd tools making perfect sense to him. The instant the spade touched the pulsing organ, however, it began to ooze thick, black blood. The clock hummed louder, a sickly sweet song emanating from the hum. The giant heart's pulse picked up, causing it to rupture in more places, more blood spurting here and there. It covered the floor as Dexter panicked, frozen in place. The clock above him chimed cheerily twelve times, singing as it did so._

_***Bong***_

_Once there was a little girl_

_Who found herself in a twisted world_

_It was not the Wonderland of old_

_There's a different version that must be told_

_***Bong***_

_No caterpillars, or decks of cards_

_No croquet, or Queen of Hearts_

_Just monsters and rebels_

_And sent from the Devil_

_A poison-filled box of tarts_

_***Bong***_

_The tarts were eaten, one and all_

_By a puppet court, destined to fall_

_And so rose through the ranks like a stalk from a bean_

_A murderous villain, the Bloody Red Queen_

_***Bong***_

_Now about that lass_

_Who fell down that hole_

_She fell quite fast_

_Down that chute black as coal_

_***Bong***_

_She was to save Wonderland_

_With her childhood pure_

_There was a wrench in this plan_

_The problem: a cure_

_***Bong***_

_When she escaped to her home, spattered and mangled_

_She was a quite sight, tattered and tangled_

_***Bong***_

_She ranted, she raved_

_She couldn't be saved_

_So they took the poor lass and they locked her away_

_***Bong***_

_Now this story is sad_

_And that much is true_

_But I've very good advice_

_I'll gladly tell you_

_***Bong***_

_Go find The Hatter, The Cat, and The Hare_

_And help them look, look everywhere_

_Who, you may ask?_

_Why, who indeed!_

_The reincarnation of the first Uulize_

_** *Bong***_

_She was the Sanity_

_Who fought the Queen's Madness_

_She was the Smile_

_Who chased away Sadness_

_She was the Good_

_Who struggled with Badness_

_***Bong!***_

_And hang all the trouble, the terror, the malice!_

_I am The Hatter. I'm looking for Alice_

_***BONG!***_

_Dexter fell to the floor with the force of the last chime. The sticky, coagulating blood covered him. He struggled to stand, the blood pouring over him from the heart. He coughed and spluttered, drowning in the warm, wet lake. Red tentacles shot from beneath him and wrapped around him, pulling the struggling boy down._

_Down..._

_Down..._

_Down..._

_With his last glimpse of the surface, he felt one ice-cold tendril wrap tightly around his neck and pull. He felt his vertebrae pop. He realized that he would be beheaded._

_Just like the reflection._

Just like the reflection.

Dexter relived the entire bloody nightmare again, fully conscious. He would prefer not to dwell on it, although it was obvious that his interaction with the Madwoman had muddled his mind. He became painfully aware that his neck burned, as if he had neglected to put on sunscreen before spending all week outside at the beach. His neck felt as if it were on fire. He grabbed his glasses off the nightstand and tried feel his neck. His fingers were burned on contact. He rushed to the bathroom, checking his reflection. A fire-red ring perfectly marked his neck. He stared without comprehending. Suddenly he froze, rigid, as though electrocuted. The room spun, and his reflection faded to black on red. He fell to the floor in a dead faint. A bloody handprint dragged lazily on the countertop and out the door as someone chuckled darkly from the shadows.

….

Flapjack was feeling extremely sorry for himself. He knew he had gotten Hattie into trouble, and now that boy Dexter was mad at her. He might even send her away, and it would be all Flapjack's fault. This was not the case, but to the child, it seemed to be the only probable solution. He wrung his small hat in his hands worriedly, unable to even think about sleep. He wasn't aware that Hattie had already discovered the Uulize, so this added to the weight on his mind as well.

He slept outside, which suited him perfectly well. There was a large piece of shrapnel that mimicked a cave, and therefore, his first home, Bubby. But now the piles of blankets and soft pillows people were happy to provide for him did absolutely nothing for his insomnia. He heard a shuffle, followed by a giggle. He twisted his head around and stared at the dimly-lit street. A figure stood, silhouetted in the glow of the street light, the most noticeable thing about it being a hat. Flapjack turned and sat on his knees, squinting his eyes.

"...Hattie?" he asked loudly. The figure giggled, then ran off. Flapjack scrambled up and out of his make-shift cave, taking off after her.

"Hattie, wait!" he called. The girl never once even paused to look back. She moved like smoke through the night, her feet seeming to never touch the ground. Flapjack's footsteps seemed extremely loud in his ears, and he was growing tired of chasing this being of boundless energy. They wove through alleyways and down dark streets. Hattie always managed to stay just ahead of him. Flapjack's legs hurt, and his chest seemed to be on fire; he didn't know how much more he could take. Hattie, still running, managed a miraculous jump straight into a pool of light from a flickering streetlamp. Her back was turned, and she didn't seem to be tired at all. Flapjack managed to catch up with her, and stopped, hands on his knees, to catch his breath. He swallowed, allowing his heart rate to slow before addressing Hattie.

"That... wasn't very... nice... of you..." he managed to pant. Hattie didn't turn around, much less respond.

"Well? Did you want to talk to me, or what?" Flapjack asked, irritation entering his voice. Hattie finally turned around.

Some things seemed similar. The large green hat, the Victorian-style dress, the socks, the large sword in its sheath on her back...

Then again, this couldn't possibly be Hattie. For one thing, her eyes were completely of one color, a slitted pupil gleaming down at him from an unfamiliar shade of green. Whereas Hattie's grin could be categorized as "loony", this gash full of teeth was decidedly unnatural, and not friendly at all. Flapjack stumbled back, a cold chill seeping into his bones.

"Y- you're not H-hattie-" he managed to say before the stranger hefted him up by the green scarf he always wore.

"And you are not a very smart little boy..." the impersonator hissed mockingly. Flapjack kicked and tried to untie the knot on his scarf, face changing colors as the oxygen escaped him.

"_Let it be known that there are consequences for meddling in affairs of other worlds_..." the stranger snarled, throwing the boy on the ground. Flapjack looked up, gasping for air, but nothing remained besides a wisp of smoke. Every childish bone in his body screamed at him to curl up somewhere and hide, but every adventurer fiber in his being, which outnumbered the bones, told him to report to the captain. And who was the captain around here?

Flapjack turned tail and dashed as fast as he could across town, heading for DexLabs.

…..

For the second time that day, Hattie was dragged from her bed, a nest-like structure below a large tree, to be brought in front of the angry, ill-tempered boy she had come to know quite well. This time, however, she was restrained, wrists cuffed to a large metal chair by some sort of glowing, humming material. Her ankles were shod no better. Her hat had become askew in the "transfer", and one of her pigtails had flown loose, and now hung messily over half of her face. Although Dexter seemed to be in much worse condition. He was behind a large, clear pane of glass, just glaring distrustfully at her. Hattie could clearly see the bags under his eyes, and he had what appeared to be a tourniquet around his neck. Hattie cocked her head to the side, her hat slipping off and falling to the ground. She looked at it, panicked, but struggled with the idea that somehow Dexter was hurt, and yet she was the one in custody.

_They can't suspect me of doing anything... I wasn't even-_

Her thoughts were interrupted by a very hoarse voice. Hattie looked back up.

"Do you realize that you could have killed three people tonight? Possibly four?" She could make out the blurred forms of other people behind the young genius, waiting for her answer. Hattie met his icy gaze evenly.

"I wasn't aware I had the ability to kill in my sleep," she replied.

"You can't honestly blame this near murder spree on SLEEPWALKING," Dexter rasped. Hattie shook her head.

"No. But I CAN honestly tell you that I was only with one particular person tonight. I only just returned to my little nest before your twin gorillas retrieved me yet again."

Dexter didn't believe her, that was plain to see. Hattie shook her head to move the purple hair out of her face.

"Just out of curiosity, who exactly did I nearly-but-not-really kill?" Dexter bared his teeth in a scowl.

"My sister, for starters," he snapped harshly. Hattie started.

"What's happened to DeeDee?" she asked, her eyes darkening to a violet-blue.

"If you insist on keeping up the innocent act, I'm not going to tell you just so you can relive it all." Hattie frowned.

"You said there were others..."

"Right after DeeDee, something, YOU, tried to hack my head off," he told her monotonously, revealing a fresh, deep gash in his neck. Any deeper would have been fatal, although it didn't appear to have bled much.

"Curiouser and curiouser..." Hattie whispered, horrified by the injury.

"And of course you had to attack Flapjack. He has so many bruises and cuts, we almost missed the fact that his windpipe was damaged from a near-choking," Dexter snapped, fixing the bandage over his injury. Hattie flinched.

"I would never attack a child, as much as I would never attack any of you!" she shouted.

"But. You. Did," Dexter said pointedly.

"...You said four..." Hattie suddenly realized, "You believe I attacked four people." Dexter stared down at her coldly.

"Billy has gone missing," he said hoarsely, "It seems that anyone who has had contact with you thus far has been attacked, with the exception of Ben, who has been training recruits all night. Everyone you attacked was alone. Everyone you attacked ended up the same way: unconscious. And everyone you attacked can remember certain things which ring true to your madness. A cackle, a nightmare, Flapjack even claims to have seen you." Hattie was in shock, although her face was a stony mask.

"Ah warned ya..." Maddie hissed, clawing at the metal of the chair, "Ah _toldja_ ta look at tha lookin' glass an' you _dismissed _meh like a fly. D'ya believe meh now? Now tha' so many o' you 'ave been attacked by this impersonator?" Dexter crossed his arms.

"Do you still claim you had nothing to do with it?" Maddie scraped metal shavings from the arms of the chair.

_"I toldja I dinnah do it!"_

"Somehow, I don't believe you!" Dexter shot back, ending up having to cough. Maddie's eyes cooled in contempt.

"You don't like me." It was a statement of fact, there was no question or hint of doubt in it.

"You are illogical," Dexter wheezed. Also a statement of fact.

"That's hardly grounds for disliking a person," Hattie pointed out.

"I never said I didn't like you," he snapped. Oh, that just made her feel all warm and fuzzy, now didn't it? The girl sighed, tired of the boy's attitude.

"You do not like what you cannot explain, and therefore-"

"I never-"

"AND THEREFORE, sir, you have little tolerance for me."

"You believe me to be cruel, or unjust? My suspicion and irritation is not without cause," Hattie could see that he was only trying to work with what he knew. But now what he needed to know was what he didn't know, and he would never learn that by continuing to believe that Hattie knew nothing.

"You consider me to be whimsical, childish, moody, dangerous, psychotic, and selfish, due to my desire to save my own world before yours." Hattie's eye twitched with each addition to the list. She had hit her mark on every accusation.

"I consider you to be illogical," Dexter repeated.

"You are far too sensible."

"I admit, that is one that I have never heard."

"You, a boy of thirteen, are far too stern, disbelieving, and completely, utterly, totally dependent on facts, proof, and documentation!"

"I am a scientist!" _Did she not understand this?_

"I am a Wonderlander!" _Did he not understand this?_

"You are unreasonable!" he snapped.

"You are stubborn!" Hattie shot back.

"You infuriate me to no end!"

"Your tedious human ways bore me to tears!"

"Your nonsensical lifestyle and vocabulary makes me want to tear my hair out!"

"Your mood swings sour the atmosphere of any room you care to inhabit!"

"M-MY mood swings? MINE?" Dexter spluttered, unable to comprehend how SHE had accused HIM of having terrible mood swings, "You possess an entire alter-ego! You nearly killed someone during one of your episodes!"

"Really? So it's safe to assume I drive you insane?"

"You'll put me in a nuthouse before long!" Dexter exclaimed, throwing his hands up.

"Wonderful," Hattie suddenly said, voice low.

"Excuse me?"

"How deliciously marvelous that you'll soon be seeing things from my delightful perspective," she grinned.

"I'll never be so insane," Dexter muttered, shaking his head.

"You sound terribly sure."

"I am." The girl tsked and tutted at the boy like she would a bad child.

"Oh, how your naivety amuses me."

"Show me proof that I will one day become as crazy as you."

"You are already as mad as I," she winked knowingly.

"Not possible," he replied, crossing his arms.

"Ah. I hear the tone of uncertainty. Not so sure now, are we?"

"You avoid the subject. Where is my proof?" Hattie cleared her throat, shaking her hair out of her face again.

"You are an inventor, yes? A revolutionary in many fields."

"I am a genius," he stated proudly.

"Of course. Now, you have created many fascinating and wondrous things. All from your imagination."

"Imagination does not make me insane," he said, frowning. If that were true, EVERYONE would be... they would be... He wrestled his thoughts away from the idea.

"No. But what of the man who invented the light bulb, or the steam engine, or any other human achievement you care to name?" Hattie didn't seem to notice the brief flash of panic in Dexter's eyes.

"What about them?"

"Were they not considered slightly "off" because of their ideas?"

"I suppose, but-"

"Are you not doing the very same thing? Chasing ideas that have only gotten to paper, no further? Making them a reality?"

"Where are you going with this, woman?" he growled in frustration.

"You do not hear what many below say about you, the mysterious boy in the chrome-and-steel tower," Hattie whispered, her eyes turning a steely yellow-gray. You see, they see what you do not see, but even then it is only what you subconciously allow them to see. I see what you are too blind to see, or are too afraid to see." Dexter only processed one part of her blathering.

"I am afraid of nothing," he stated.

"Lies," Hattie hissed, frowning heavily.

"Well, I am afraid of some things. Everyone is."

"Fear is only in our minds, love. I fear, therefore I cannot have lost my mind. You fear, so your mind must be in the same condition as mine."

"Your logic is horrifically flawed," he said dismissively.

"You are just as mad as I, but I fail to see why you cannot accept that as fact?" She said it infuriatingly simply.

"It is not fact! It is the ramblings of a loon!" Dexter shouted.

"You sail under false colors, love."

"I am not mad!" he cried, ignoring the pain in his neck. Hattie was unfazed.

"Yes, you are. So is Ben. So is DeeDee and the gorillas, Flapjack, and Billy..."

"We are not mad! You are mad!" he accused. Hattie grinned in a sick, twisted way. She cocked her head horrifically to the side, her eyes bright red.

"_I'm_ mad. _You're_ mad. _They're_ mad. _We are all_ mad here, _love_," she finished darkly, her voice layered with Maddie's deep tones. Her sentence punctuated by a flickering light.

"Get out of here," Dexter ordered her sharply.

"Are you talking to me, or the voices?"

"_OUT!_" He screamed, releasing her. Hattie tipped her hat as soon as she retrieved it, curtsying, and walked out the door, a self-satisfied grin on her face. Dexter was sweating and shaking. His head swam. All he wanted was to have that psychopath sent as far away from him as possible. He turned to give such an order to Jack, who had watched the entire episode unfold behind Dexter.

"She's a righ' loon, i'nt she?" the Scotsman whistled, shaking his head.

"Hattie didn't attack any of your stupid friends," someone growled from the darkened doorway. Dexter flicked his head in her direction, for it was a female. A short, rather young female. Her dark gaze and scowl wasn't softened by the pink dress she wore, or the pigtails in her hair. Dexter frowned. Mandark's little sister. How did Olga get in here.

"Flapjack says he saw her, and that she nearly killed him. I readily believe a victim before a madwoman," Dexter said, crossing his arms. Lalavava's frown deepened, and she squinted her eyes.

"I talked to that curly-haired _idiot_. He says it wasn't Hattie. It was someone who looked like her. Someone who moved like her."

"No one can move like her," Dexter replied, taking into account her inhuman speed and agility.

"What if I told you that she was nowhere near any of you all night?"

"Then where was she?" Dexter was growing tired of this little girl, this... Mini-Mandark.

"She was training me. She says that being the Uulize doesn't gaurantee me an easy ride. I have to learn how to defend myself-"

"You honestly believe that lunatic?" Dexter chuckled humorlessly. Lalavava narrowed her eyes, silently waiting for him to stop.

"I do," she said simply, reaching behind her and unsheathing a long-bladed sword. Dexter recalled that Hattie had not been wearing her sheath when he questioned her. Jack's eyes flicked over it, but he remained still. She glared at Dexter, pointing her sword at him.

"Hattie is an effective teacher. I bet I can take..." she swung the sword ninety degrees to her left, aiming directly at Jack, "You're little sword-monkey here down."

"Somehow I doubt that," Dexter muttered over the Scotsman's laughter. Lalavava's steely gaze hovered over him for a while.

"_You_," she started, dangerously quiet, "I'm going to love proving wrong." With that, she whirled, bringing her sword down. There was a loud clang as her blade connected with Jack's. She reared back and attacked again, her short stature providing easy access to Jack's legs. He dodged her repeatedly, but he had to admit that the child had gained a certain skill level that was worthy of admiration. He blocked her attack, spinning the girl, their blades locked. She elbowed the samurai in the stomach. Not really effective, but it allowed her to get free. She paused, arms steady, sword stretched. Then she stood up and replaced Hattie's sword. She looked back at the Scotsman who was watching interestedly.

"Do not mock me," she said. She turned and left, seeming to melt into the shadows. Dexter crossed his arms, irritated.

"_Stoopid_ Mini-Mandark..." he muttered.


End file.
